Watch CBS News

Some Folsom residents on high alert after man allegedly exposed himself to children near playground

Folsom community on alert after reports of man exposing himself to children
Folsom community on alert after reports of man exposing himself to children 03:39

FOLSOM – Some people are disgusted and on high alert in Folsom after a man is accused of exposing himself to children on an apartment playground in broad daylight.

It happened on Saturday, Jan. 25 at around 1:30 p.m. at the Mercy Village Apartments off of Duchow Way. It is located less than a mile away from Theodore Judah Elementary and Sutter Middle School. 

The mother of the 10-year-old boy who said he witnessed this spoke with CBS Sacramento about what she said was a traumatic experience. She has been taking her son to therapy and counseling since. 

She wanted to remain anonymous but said her son was playing with a 9-year-old girl on the apartment's playground when a man drove into the alleyway, hopped out of his car, faced the children, exposed himself and performed a lewd act. 

"The kids came to my door telling me, 'Mom, something traumatic just happened, something really bad,'" the mom said. 

She is thankful the kids are safe, but she says she won't feel more peace until the man is caught. 

"A man had revealed himself, his private parts to them and they didn't use the term, but they kind of gestured because at that age they don't know what that is," the mom said. 

Surveillance video captures what happened next. It shows a white Honda Civic Sport car leaving the alleyway moments later. The kids said this was the car the suspect was driving. 

Folsom police has the video but could not confirm it was the suspect. 

Mercy Village Housing is taking what happened seriously. It put out a notice to residents with steps on how to talk to their children about "stranger danger." 

"His teacher reached out to me about him having a little bit harder time than his normal happy self since this occurred," the boy's mom said. 

Theodore Judah Elementary is about a block and a half away. The Folsom Cordova Unified School District gave CBS Sacramento this statement about what happened: 

"FCUSD works closely with law enforcement and SROs. In addition, the school follows strict safety protocols, and mental health supports are available to students. This incident did not take place on school grounds. We defer to our local law enforcement on this matter."

CBS 13 spoke with other parents in the community who live near the school. 

"It just makes me feel real sick to my stomach," a resident said. 

"There's a lot of kids in this community and that is not OK," another parent said. 

They were all surprised they had not heard anything and were disgusted this happened. 

"I wasn't expecting to have any of these conversations with him for another several years," said the mom of the boy who said he witnessed this. 

She said she is continuing to remind him that he is safe, but she is no longer letting him play outside alone. 

"We always tell them not to go into the alley to just stay at the playground where that's safe, but even then it wasn't safe that day," the mom said. 

The mom is grateful nothing worse happened and that her son and the little girl felt safe to come and tell her right away. 

The mom said the kids made sketches of what the man looked like for the police department. 

CBS Sacramento asked Folsom police if they could provide those sketches or any suspect description, but the department declined.

This is the statement given from Folsom police: 

"We took a report and were made aware of the situation. We are following up on leads provided through the investigation. We have no further information to release at this time." 

View CBS News In
CBS News App Open
Chrome Safari Continue
Be the first to know
Get browser notifications for breaking news, live events, and exclusive reporting.