by Geoff Rushton

A Penn State student is facing charges after police say he exposed himself to and masturbated in front of several women on separate occasions in Pattee Library.

Penn State Police said five women reported incidents of indecent activity during the month of April in the library.

According to the criminal complaint, the first report came at 12:45 a.m. on April 10. A woman told police she had been studying in the stacks area that night when, at about 11 p.m., a man sat down at a table next to her. After some time he stood up, stared at her and walked behind her on several occasions, during which she said she heard a “rubbing sound.” Around midnight, she saw the man sitting at the table with his genitals exposed, touching himself while staring at her, police said. The woman left the area and returned to her residence where she called police. Cameras at the library were found to be out of service at the time.

On April 18, a second woman reported to police that a man with a similar description to the suspect in the first report sat at a desk near her while she was studying in the stacks area. She reportedly said that the male was acting suspicious and looking at her. Police said she then saw he was touching himself, but that he had not exposed himself. She yelled at the man and he began to walk toward her, so she yelled at him again, left the area and called police, according to the complaint.

A third woman who was studying in the stacks area on April 21 reported that at about 3:30 p.m. a male with a similar description as in the first two incidents walked in, sat down near her and began staring at her. At about 5 p.m. she saw the man had exposed himself and was masturbating, police said. When she stood up to leave, the man reportedly stood up and stared at her. She left the area to seek assistance and when she returned the man was gone. The woman told police he had a silver laptop with a bright blue cover on the desk while he was seated near her, but that he appeared to not actually doing anything on the computer.

Video surveillance cameras were working during the April 21 incident, and police said a male matching the description given by the three women and with a similar backpack and clothing described was seen running from the stacks exit, out of the library and down the sidewalk at about 5:05 p.m., around the time of the third woman’s account.

The three woman identified the man in still shots from the footage as the male who had masturbated in front of them. After a crime alert was sent out, police received multiple tips identifying the man as Shaun A. McAndrew, 20, of Ossining, N.Y.

McAndrew reportedly called police on the evening of April 25, saying he wanted to confess to an incident that occurred in the library in which he said “a girl was seducing me.”

A detective met with McAndrew that night and McAndrew reportedly admitted to exposing himself to two different women, claiming both had asked him to do so. He did not admit to any other acts. Police said officers went with McAndrew to his apartment and observed clothing, a backpack and silver laptop and blue case all similar to what the women had described.

On April 28, a fourth woman contacted police and said that on April 10 she was studying in the stacks when the male in the crime alert pictures came in, sat near her and stared at her. He then allegedly went into the aisle beside her and was moving his hands around his genital area while breathing heavily. She was not sure if he had exposed himself.

On May 1, a fifth woman reported to police that at about 3 p.m. on April 21 she was washing her hands at the sink in a gender-neutral bathroom  on the first floor of the library when she turned around and saw a male who had completely exposed himself. The woman said she then ran out of the restroom. Police said surveillance footage showed McAndrew leaving the library from an exit near the restroom at 3:01 p.m. The woman identified McAndrew as the man who exposed himself, according to the complaint.

McAndrew is charged with misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, open lewdness and disorderly conduct. He was arraigned via summons on Friday by District Judge Steven Lachman.

A preliminary hearing is scheduled for June 21.