A suspect in a recent slew of indecent exposure offenses in Puyallup and Sumner was arrested yesterday evening. The 21-year-old Puyallup man—an active duty soldier with the U.S. Army—was picked up at the Riverside Park Apartments  by officers of the Puyallup Police Department.

A man was reported to have exposed himself during two separate incidents recently in Sumner.  As a result of the Sumner reports, the Sumner School District issued an alert email to families in the area because of the proximity of the crimes to school grounds. Earlier reporting on those incidents suggested the exhibitionist was targeting school-age girls specifically, but this was a misinterpretation of the school alert.

“The individual was in no way targeting schools or even school-age females,” Sumner Communications Director Carmen Palmer wrote in an email.

Similar crimes committed by a man with a similar description to the Sumner offender were reported in Puyallup. The first incident occurred Jan. 22 on the Riverwalk Trail, near the trail-head at Mama Stortini’s, when the suspect exposed himself to two women walking along the path.

Another incident occurring yesterday, Feb. 8, had the suspect driving a maroon car alongside a female jogger before exposing himself.

Puyallup and Sumner detectives pooled their resources to locate the exhibitionist. A lead led them to the Riverside Park complex, where they found and arrested the suspect. He subsequently confessed to the string of exposures, according to the department release. The investigation is ongoing and and additional follow-up will be completed by detectives.

The suspect will be charged with seven counts of indecent exposure in Puyallup’s and Sumner’s municipal courts.