Key West The Newspaper

At about 3:00 pm last Saturday [July 1st], KWPD Officers Lorvie Paul and Thomas Clark responded to a call about an older man who was walking up and down Smather’s Beach exposing his genitals and publicly masturbating.

Three witnesses described the man as “having no shame and making no attempts to hide himself,” according to reports. Witnesses told officers they saw the man, who was identified as Agripino Sanchez, “clearly stroking his penis as if to pleasure himself.” They said he was doing so directly behind a family with young children. Sanchez reportedly became violent and belligerent when he was told to stop but did “put his penis back into his pants,” at that time.

The officers reported there were several children playing on the beach when they arrived. Officer Valdez-Marrero reported to the scene to help with communications as Sanchez was reportedly not able to speak English. According to reports Sanchez told Officer Valdez-Marrero that he was “just urinating” and that he was “just looking at pussy and ass.”

Sanchez was arrested and charged with “committing a lewd act in the presence of minors” and was taken to Monroe County Detention Center on Stock Island.

According to Florida Statutes a person who intentionally masturbates or exposes the genitals in a lewd or lascivious manner in the presence of a victim who is less than 16 years of age, commits the offense of “lewd or lascivious exhibition.” Sanchez, who is 69 years old, faces a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison for the charge, which is a felony of the second degree.