Photo: Castanets staff
WARNING: This story contains information that some readers may find disturbing.
A homeless Lillooet man with a history of masturbating in public has been sentenced to spend nearly a month behind bars after his latest offense.
Francis Copeland, 38, pleaded guilty in Kamloops provincial court Friday to one count of committing an indecent act in a public place and violating probation.
The court heard police received a report on January 3 of someone masturbating in the open outside the Lillooet Museum.
Officers arrived and found Copeland with his pants down and his genitals exposed. He tried to escape but was caught a short distance away.
In September, Copeland was sentenced to 15 months of probation after pleading guilty to charges stemming from a similar incident. In that case, he was caught masturbating outside a home in downtown Lillooet.
Those probation conditions — including conditions prohibiting Copeland from attending any playground, school yard or day care — will remain in effect until December.
Copeland apologized in court on Friday.
“I apologize for what I did,” he said. “I have no excuse and I guarantee it won’t happen again.
Kamloops Provincial Court Judge Loriana Bennett, who sentenced Copeland in September, had harsh words for the man.
“I think I’ve heard words like that from you before,” she said. “Your behavior is extremely inappropriate and will not be tolerated by the community.”
Bennett agreed to a general plea to a prison sentence for time served, giving Copeland time and a half credit for 26 days behind bars.
She also added an additional condition of probation prohibiting Copeland from being near the Lillooet Museum.
During Copeland’s sentencing in September, the court heard he had been the subject of a number of public masturbation calls which did not lead to charges.
After Copeland’s arrest in January, Lillooet RCMP issued a news release thanking the informant who called in the report that led to his arrest.
“It is important that the public is aware of these incidents and reports lewd activities to the police,” Const. Andrew Hodges said in the statement.
“We would like to thank the witness who immediately reported the incident.”
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