Charlotte Mecklenburg Police arrested a man accused of exposing himself to children at bus stops across Charlotte.
CMPD acquired warrants for the arrest of 37-year-old Eric Henderson. The warrants are for misdemeanor indecent exposure, felony indecent exposure and indecent liberties with a child.
NBC Charlotte has learned Henderson has been arrested every year since 2016, including on charges of indecent exposure in 2017 and assault on a female last year.
Henderson is now accused of exposing himself to two teenage girls in separate incidents. He’s charged in two of eight recent indecent exposure cases. Five of the crimes were reported at CMS bus stops.
Late Thursday afternoon, detectives were interviewing Henderson before he was transferred to the Mecklenburg County Jail. His arrest came just hours after the CMPD released his photo to the public.
Police said they’re still investigating if he’s responsible for any of the other indecent exposure cases or if there’s another suspect involved.
In these cases, the suspect exposed himself and genitalia. There haven't been any cases in which the suspect touched the victims.
The cases go back several months, with the first on February 6. There was one case in which a victim said the suspect tried to lure them into his car -- there was no exposure reported in this case. They are looking at the possibility it was connected.
The cases have been widely spread across the Charlotte area, with no geographical pattern.
On Wednesday, there was another indecent exposure case involving children at around 8 p.m. outside an apartment complex on Village Green Drive. Police said a man exposed himself to children ages 4, 10, and 11. The suspect even tried to kidnap one of the children, according to the police report.
NBC Charlotte talked to a father who lives in the apartment complex. He did not want his face shown during the interview but said he’ll be watching his four children closely.
“I let them come out and play, now since that happened it’s like me and their mom have to be out here to make sure they are being monitored,” he told NBC Charlotte.
CMPD has not made any arrests in that case.
“Hopefully they catch the guy, both of them whoever they are, it’s not fair to the children,” the father said.
Parents are asked to remind their children to be mindful of surroundings and travel in groups to and from bus stops. CMPD said children should never approach a vehicle and if anyone tries to approach them, they should run for help.