BURLINGTON – A $5,000 cash bond was set for a Rochester man who was accused of exposing his genitals to three girls at a beach here on Wednesday afternoon.
William D. Montieth, 74, was charged by the Racine County District Attorney’s Office with exposing genitals, a felony. If convicted, he could be sentenced to 3 years and 6 months and/or fined $10,000.
According to the criminal complaint, a Racine County Sheriff’s deputy was dispatched to a Burlington residence where three girls reported that a man, approximately 70 years old, had exposed himself while they were at Honey Creek Beach in Burlington. Two of the girls were 16 years old. The complaint did not state the third girl’s age.
One of the girls sent a text message to the other two at about 4:11 p.m. Wednesday that “a creepy old man” kept staring at her while she was sunbathing. The other two girls went to the beach and met with her after receiving the message.
The girls told the deputy that the man, later identified as Montieth, was fishing on the bridge about 35 to 40 feet away. He stared at them “making them feel uncomfortable,” the complaint stated. One of the girls stated that she saw Montieth unzip his pants and expose himself. She told the others what she saw and then yelled at the man: “What the — is wrong with you. We are minors.”
All three girls had to walk past Montieth to leave the area. As one of the girls told him “You’re disgusting”, he responded with “Yup.”
As the deputy was speaking with the girls, he learned that a person matching Montieth’s description was still in the area and had an active arrest warrant on a lewd and lascivious behavior charge from last November. The deputy located Montieth who told him that he had been at the lake fishing and did not know about the arrest warrant. Montieth was taken into custody and transported to the Racine County Jail.
In the earlier case, the Racine County District Attorney’s Office charged Montieth with lewd and lascivious behavior, a misdemeanor, following an incident in Rochester on Nov. 6, 2020.
According to the criminal complaint, Montieth had been given permission to hunt on the property of long-time friends. That morning, a woman who was one of the property owners, saw Montieth about 30 to 40 yards from her residence. He was “nude with genitals exposed” and “appeared to be masturbating.” When confronted by his friends about the incident, Montieth reportedly stated “I don’t know what I was thinking.” He later admitted to a deputy that he had been naked and fondled himself while facing the house. He also told the deputy that “he was disgusted with himself,” the complaint stated.
According to online court records, a summons mailed to Montieth on Dec. 2, 2020, was later returned to sender because of an insufficient address. A warrant for his arrest was issued on Jan. 22 of this year after he failed to appear in court.
Montieth made an initial court appearance on both charges Thursday afternoon. A $5,000 cash bond was set on the exposing genitals charge. A preliminary hearing is scheduled for July 29 at the Racine County Law Enforcement Center, 717 Wisconsin Ave., Racine.
Cash bond was set at $1,000 on the lewd and lascivious behavior charge. A status conference is scheduled for Sept. 21 in Racine County Circuit Court, Branch 4