A D.C. man who regularly exposed himself near an elementary school, masturbated in front of neighborhood children, and threatened families and school employees when confronted, has pleaded guilty to sex abuse charges.
Derrick Jones, 54, pleaded guilty Monday in D.C Superior Court to two counts of misdemeanor sexual abuse of a child with aggravating circumstances and three counts of lewd, indecent or obscene acts, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for D.C.
Jones also pleaded guilty to three charges related to making threats.
Prosecutors said a neighbor with an 11-year-old son at home noticed Jones masturbating outside her apartment building on the afternoon of April 3. The neighbor, who lived less than a block away from Bancroft Elementary School in Mount Pleasant, said this was a routine occurrence and tried to record him.
When Jones saw that the neighbor was trying to record him, prosecutors said, he crossed the street “in an aggressive manner” and threatened to kill the neighbor’s family and their dog.
A few days later, on April 6, a woman who was walking home from dropping her nephew off at Bancroft Elementary saw Jones masturbating outside an apartment. Jones made eye contact with her and continued masturbating, according to prosecutors.
On April 12, Jones was again seen masturbating outside the same building while kids were being dropped off at school, prosecutors said.
The next day, Jones was masturbating outside the same building during Bancroft Elementary drop-off time when a school crossing guard approached him. A colleague led the children to the other side of the street, out of view, and the crossing guard told Jones to stop, prosecutors said.
According to the release, Jones replied by loudly threatening to “blow y’all up” before going inside his building and returning with a black duffel. The crossing guard was alarmed, not knowing what was inside the bag. Police were contacted and Jones was arrested.
After Jones was arrested, the U.S. Attorney’s Office and D.C. police further investigated, finding “additional victims.” He has been in police custody since he was arrested in April.
While pleading guilty, Jones also admitted to exposing himself and masturbating in front of an 11-year-old girl who lived in a neighboring apartment between April 1 and April 13.
Jones is scheduled to be sentenced in October. As part of his sentence, he will be required to register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
