Robert Allen Burgess Jr. was apprehended by the Lewiston Police Department on Feb. 26 after exposing himself to an individual outside of Ladd library. He was charged with indecent conduct which is a misdemeanor.

At 11:45 p.m. Campus Safety Officers responded to the report of an individual exposing themself outside of the ground floor of the library. In an official statement, Director of Campus Safety Paul Menice, recounted, “Officers arrived and observed an individual walking from the library towards Campus Ave. The individual started to run from the Officer down one of the side streets off of Campus Ave.”

Later that night at 12:31 a.m., students received a text from Campus Safety that read:

“Campus Safety has received a report of an individual exposing themself at Ladd, LPD and Campus Safety are searching the area of Vale St. for the suspect.”

Nine minutes later at 12:40 a.m., a second text from Campus Safety read:

“Subject apprehended by Lewiston Police and K9, the situation is clear.”

Incidents of a man exposing himself are not uncommon. This is the fifth report of indecent exposure on campus during the 2023-2024 school year. The LPD believes that this is the same man from previous incidents.

Previous incidents occurred on the perimeter of campus, near buildings like the Olin Arts Center and the Bonney Science Center. This incident, at Ladd Library, is the first incident occurring in a central campus location.

The LPD posted a summary of the incident on their Facebook.

“On February 26, 2024, at approximately 11:47pm, Lewiston Police responded to the Bates College campus for a report of a male exposing himself to students. After speaking to witnesses and reviewing surveillance footage from the area, Police located 55yo Robert Allen Burgess Jr., of Mechanic Falls, hiding nearby (with the assistance of Androscoggin County SO K9 Team). Burgess was identified as the perpetrator and was arrested. He was transported to the Androscoggin County Jail where bail was set at $5.00 (five dollars).”

In response to comments about the $5 bail, the Lewiston Police Department then commented on its own post, “…the Bail Commissioner…is prohibited by legislation to impose a higher bail for such a crime.”

Author’s Note: Our hearts at The Student go out to those affected by these repeated issues. We sincerely hope this is the end of these incidents. Your struggles are not insignificant. Please do not hesitate to reach out for help. If you ever need a safe ride home, Bates has a Safe Ride & Escort Shuttle service. Call 207-786-8300 (this is the same phone number as the Bobcat Express).