By Jim Hannah
The Cincinnati Enquirer

ERLANGER - A 24-year-old Independence man is accused of flashing young girls walking to school in Northern Kentucky.

George Phetterplace Jr. was charged by Erlanger police with two counts of indecent exposure stemming from incidents reported by a 14-year-old girl on Feb. 21 and a 9-year-old girl on Monday . An additional charge by another police department is pending.

Both girls were walking to school when a young man got their attention and then exposed his genitals, Erlanger police said. The descriptions of the suspect and his vehicle were very similar in both instances.

After Monday's incident, the victim was able to provide some detailed description of the man's vehicle.

The man is also suspected of flashing a woman who works at Emerson Power Transmission on New Buffington Road in Kenton County, also on Monday. That victim was able to give police some numbers off a license plate of the truck the man was driving.

On Tuesday, Erlanger Patrolman Bill Allen saw a truck that matched the description in the area of Miles Elementary School, near where the 9-year-old reported the incident the day before.

The driver, Phetterplace, agreed to be questioned.

Erlanger Police Chief Marc Fields said Phetterplace made a statement that he exposed himself to the 9-year-old and the employee of Emerson. He was later identified by the 14-year-old as the man who exposed himself to her as she walked to Lloyd High School in February, police said.

Phetterplace did not return a phone call made to his home Tuesday evening.

Kenton County police are expected to file an additional charge against Phetterplace in connection with the flashing of the Emerson employee.

Fields said Phetterplace spoke of additional incidents in which people were flashed that apparently were never reported to authorities. He said anyone with information regarding unreported incidents should contact Detective Shawn Sims or Allen at (859) 727-2424.

Because indecent exposure charges are misdemeanors in Kentucky, Phetterplace remained free Tuesday evening. Police cannot arrest someone on a misdemeanor charge unless an officer witnesses the crime.

E-mail jhannah@enquirer.com