Tega Cay police say man ‘mooned,’ made sex comments as children swam in Lake Wylie
A South Carolina man has been arrested after he bared his buttocks and made lewd sexual statements to children at a public Lake Wylie swimming spot, police said.
Devon James Morris, 21, of Union County, S.C., “mooned” the children at the Nivens Landing area on the lake on May 26, according to a Tega Cay Police Department incident report.
Morris is charged with two counts of indecent exposure and two counts of criminal solicitation of minors, according to Capt. James Patterson of the Tega Cay Police Department, and jail records.
The children told police that Morris bared his buttocks at them twice while they were at the swimming area, the Tega Cay police report stated. Morris also made several lewd overtures toward them and made sexual gestures, according to the report. Morris also asked the children to drink alcohol, the report stated.
Detectives from Tega Cay started an investigation May 26 after adults in the family reported the incident. Police found Morris days later using a photo lineup prepared by the State Law Enforcement Division in which the victims pointed out Morris, the report stated.
Solicitation of minors is a felony in South Carolina and carries up to 10 years in prison for a conviction, state law shows. The law defines the crime as an adult over age 18 who “knowingly contacts or communicates with, or attempts to contact or communicate with, a person who is under the age of eighteen, or a person reasonably believed to be under the age of eighteen, for the purpose of or with the intent of persuading, inducing, enticing, or coercing the person to engage or participate in a sexual activity.”
Indecent exposure carries a maximum penalty of three years in prison for each conviction. The law states: “It is unlawful for a person to willfully, maliciously, and indecently expose his person in a public place, on property of others, or to the view of any person on a street or highway.”
Morris was booked into the York County jail Sunday where he remains under a $10,000 bond, records show.
