RICHMOND, Va. (WRIC) — Residents of a Richmond neighborhood say they are changing their locks as the man they call the “neighborhood creep” remains at large.
A Museum District resident, Treesa Gold, told 8News that she heard a man outside screaming that he was “the public masturbator” last week. Gold says she has recently started limiting her kids’ playtime outside as a precaution.
“We used to just sort of let them run to the neighbor’s house for fun all the time and now we just sort of put a squash on that,” Gold said. “He seems pretty unafraid of getting caught.”
While it is impossible to confirm sightings are of the same individual, 8News originally reported a man had been exposing himself in the same neighborhood in December 2022. According to another Museum District resident, Isabel Cook, the man tapped on her window before publicly masturbating. Days later, the same thing happened again.
Since then, Gold says that other neighbors have reported sightings as well.
“My friend said that her roommates even walked up to him and said ‘Get out of here. Get off of my property,'” Gold said. “The guy was just like, ‘you’re not going to do anything about it.'”
Last month, in addition to the alleged public exposure, neighbors said the man had tried to get into their homes and had left them disturbing notes at their front doors.
“It definitely made us just feel a little less easy,” Gold said.
Another nearby resident, Harmony Stair told 8News that she has seen the man before.
“I did witness him going through that alley,” Stair said. “A lot of these people just need help they’re not getting.”
8News reached out to the Richmond Police Department for any updates on their investigation. As of this reporting, they have not responded.
