A 62-year-old man was arrested in Polk County, Florida, after store cameras recorded him exposing himself to a 5-year-old girl at a Mulberry Walmart. David Hicks faces three third-degree felony charges: indecent exposure, lewd exhibition and exposure of sexual organs.
According to the Polk County Sheriff’s Office, an employee saw the incident near the cold food section. Surveillance video, the office said, shows Hicks following a mother and her daughter through the store before he exposed himself and masturbated in front of the child.
A tip, then an arrest
Deputies put images of the suspect out through Crime Stoppers on July 8. An anonymous caller phoned in the next day and named David Hicks. The caller also said he had done the same thing before in Toccoa, Georgia. Detectives arrested him at his home without incident, and the sheriff’s office did not describe any struggle.
The Gateway Pundit reported that Hicks has earlier arrests for indecent exposure in South Carolina in 1991, Georgia in 1992 and 1998, and Florida in 1996. It also listed child molestation charges in Georgia in 1998 that ended in probation.
The brother
Sheriff Grady Judd used the press conference to point out who Hicks’s brother is. Thomas Hicks, 68, is the Lakeland man known as the local Santa Claus. He was arrested in April in a Polk County child predator sting, accused of offering $200 to have sex with someone he believed was a 13-year-old girl. He remains in jail on multiple felony charges, including human trafficking.
Judd called it a “family affair.” “Santa Claus’ brother is this guy, and now we’ve got them both locked up in jail. I just hope there are no more brothers,” the sheriff said.
