Bond raised in indecent exposure case
A 57-year-old Butler man accused of exposing his genitals at his home near a day care center will remain in jail after a district judge in Chicora increased his bond from $5,000 to $100,000.
“I just gotta keep everybody safe,” said District Judge Lewis Stoughton on Tuesday during Richard K. Blain's preliminary and bail hearing. “I'm going to make sure to keep him behind bars until we can get him to see a professional for mental health,” Stoughton said.
Blain was charged after four adults allegedly observed him walk three times onto his porch on Sunset Drive naked from the waist down wearing a black shirt on Sept. 3.
Blain's home is between 100 feet to 150 feet across the street from Sheryl Buffington's Daycare & Preschool Palace, where the witnesses were standing. The witnesses called police, who interviewed him at his home and said they smelled alcohol on his breath.
Blain is charged with misdemeanors of indecent exposure, open lewdness, disorderly conduct and a summary offense of public drunkenness.
Blain has pleaded not guilty. His lawyer, Ryan Helsel, asked Stoughton on Tuesday to reduce Blain's bond. Blain has been in Butler County Prison since Sept. 6 after Stoughton originally set his bond at $5,000.
At Tuesday's hearing, Trooper Phillip Schneider testified that Blain's alleged acts occurred at 3:45 p.m. during a “transition period” with children and parents in the parking lot. While four adults said they observed Blain's genitals, Schneider testified that no children reported seeing Blain.
When Schneider responded to police calls, he spoke with Blain at his home, where he noticed the smell of alcohol. Schneider told the court that Blain said he wasn't naked and had gone on the porch to urinate off it twice. Schneider observed Blain in tan cargo shorts.
Helsel requested that Blain's bond remain at the original $5,000 and that he be put on pretrial supervision. “He does have a local address here,” Helsel said.
“He lives across the street from the day care and by his own admission, he urinated twice,” Stoughton responded, rejecting Helsel's request. “That clearly demonstrates some kind of substance abuse or mental health issue.”
Stoughton added that if Blain can post the bond, he must submit to pretrial supervision with mental health treatment and put on an alcohol monitoring bracelet known as SCRAM.
