EUSTIS, Florida—A Eustis man is in the Lake County Jail accused of masturbating while watching a young girl as her mother did laundry late Friday night, according to an arrest affidavit.
Just before midnight Saturday morning, a woman called Eustis Police Department and reported a man was masturbating while looking at her daughter at Spin City, 320 Ardice Avenue, Eustis.
The girl’s father told police he was sitting in his vehicle while his wife and daughter – who is only 8 years old – were inside doing laundry. He said his daughter was playing near the vending machines when he saw a man, later identified as Jeremy Anton Jones, 28, sitting directly across from her. The man said Jones’ pants were down and he seemed to be masturbating while staring at the young girl, the affidavit states.
The man went into the laundromat to protect his daughter and confronted Jones. He shouted at Jones, which got his wife’s attention and she also saw Jones staring at her daughter and masturbating. Jones left when he was confronted and began walking towards Tractor Supply Co., according to the affidavit. The couple described Jones as a black male, wearing a blue hoodie, dark-colored sweatpants and blue boxer shorts.
As the responding officer was leaving the scene, a call came in from RaceTrac, 2850 South Bay Street, just a block away. The caller stated a black male in a dark-colored hoodie was exposing himself at the gas station. As the officer arrived, he spotted Jones, wearing a blue hoodie and grey sweatpants that were pulled down, exposing his blue boxer shorts, the affidavit states. The complainant never saw Jones expose himself in RaceTrac, but did witness him pulling his pants up.
Jones denied exposing himself and said a man tried to fight him at the laundromat. EPD ran Jones’ name and found he had been trespassed from RaceTrac in July 2021 and a few minutes later, the young girl’s mother showed up at the gas station and identified Jones as the culprit.
Jones was arrested for lewd and lascivious exhibition of a sexual organ and trespass after warning. He was transported to LCJ, where he is being held on $5,500 bond.
