Police make arrest on Friday morning after incident of public lewdness

ITHACA, NY — The Ithaca Police Department (IPD) made an arrest early Friday morning after a man allegedly “behaved inappropriately” outside a restaurant in the 100 block of Dryden Road.

Captain Ted Schwartz said witnesses reported the man, identified as Joshuah Compton, 36, of Marathon, NY, for allegedly “sitting in the driver's seat of a parked vehicle, openly exposing himself and engaging in lewd behavior in full view of bystanders and pedestrians.” Due to the proximity to the university, Cornell University police were also notified.

When police arrived, Schwartz said, they saw Compton looking at pornography and “engaging in inappropriate sexual behavior in public.”

Compton was charged with public display of indecent sexual material, public indecency and exposure of a person, which are misdemeanors and infractions. He has a future court date in Ithaca Municipal Court.

Schwartz said this arrest was unrelated to reports last week that someone had performed “lewd acts” while looking through the windows of two women near Cornell University.

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