The Johnson County Sheriff’s Office apprehended a 60-year-old Hills man on July 14 for exposing himself to an Amish woman.  The incident took place on July 3 on Gable Avenue, Kalona.

Kevin Ray Westcott is charged with one count of Indecent Exposure, a serious misdemeanor, according to the sheriff’s report.  Bond was set at $1000 and was posted July 17.  Arraignment will be set when trial information is filed, and the defendant is to have no contact with the alleged victim, according to court documents.

The Washington County Sheriff’s Office worked with Johnson County to investigate the incident, which occurred near the county line.  

The recent report of a man exposing himself was just one in a series originating from Kalona’s Amish community dating back two years, according to Washington County’s Patrol Supervisor, Lieutenant Chad Ellis.  

“We were working leads and we were looking at suspects back in 2021, and then it kind of went quiet,” he told The News.  “Then it just popped back up again.”

The case was challenging, Ellis said, because the Amish community is vast and technology is not omnipresent.  A couple of “decent doorbell camera photos” and word of mouth was about all the department had to go on until recently.

Men exposing themselves to Amish folks specifically is not a rarity, a quick internet search reveals.  

In 2012, a Northern Indiana man exposed himself to Amish children at school, a crime for which he was sentenced to two years in prison, according to the Goshen News.  In 2016 and 2017, there were multiple men accused of exposing themselves in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, to women tending roadside market stands and riding in buggies, and to children walking home from school.  In one case, the perpetrator told police he targeted Amish and Mennonites specifically because they don’t carry cell phones, making it easy for him to get away with it.

“Over the years as the investigator, that’s probably one of the challenges, that timeliness of a report,” Lt. Ellis said about solving the crime in Kalona’s Amish community.  “You’ve just got to understand that that’s a difference in their way of life, and you’re hopeful that you get it quick enough that you can kind of go backwards” and trace a complaint back to its original source.

Court records reveal that Westcott was charged with three counts of Indecent Exposure in 1997.  He entered a guilty plea for one count, for which he was ordered 60 days in jail, all suspended, two years probation, and completion of treatment/sex offender’s program.  The other two counts were dismissed.

Lt. Ellis expressed satisfaction with the quick work done by the two sheriff’s offices.  

“I’m glad we got it solved,” he said.

Every person accused of any crime is considered innocent until proven guilty according to law.