Police Look For Man Accused Touching Himself In Front Of Child At Claremore Lake

Claremore Police are looking for a man accused of touching himself while walking toward a child at Claremore Lake.

Police said the whole encounter happened in broad daylight right in front of the child's mother.

"It was nice weather that day they were out there with their kid, their kid is playing on the jungle gym," Deputy Chief Steve Cox said.

Police said the mother saw a man walking up to her young son and things quickly took a turn.

"It was just a matter of moments," Cox said. "He probably didn't know that something was going on. Obviously, he knew enough to make him uncomfortable that he was moving towards his mother."

The police report says the mother saw the man touching himself as he walked toward her son, so she immediately jumped into action.

"This was an aggressive type move towards the child. We don't have any indications of trying to take the child or anything, but to come out, the mom was right there, she was in close proximity to her child," said Cox.

Police said they searched the lake and didn't find the man. They said there have not been any other calls like this one.

"Anytime we get reports like this, obviously they are very serious, that is someone we are going to work day and night to find. We want to talk to this person," Cox said.

Police said the mother did the right thing and urge parents to stay vigilant.

"We don't want to make people nervous, we don't want to make people paranoid, but when you are out in public it's always good to keep an eye on your children, know what they are doing," Cox said.

If you have surveillance video of the area or were at Claremore Lake on September 25, 2018, and saw anything strange, officers would like you to call the Claremore Police Department at 918-341-1212.