A NYPD detective was arrested Sunday for fondling himself in front of the windows of Long Island homes, police sources said.
Detective Robert Francis was arrested after one homeowner in Rockville Centre called 911 to report that a man was standing in the backyard masturbating, the sources said.
Francis allegedly entered the back yards of more than one home and shined a flashlight inside until he got someone’s attention.
Then, as the person was looking at him, Francis shined the light on himself to show he was fondling himself, the sources said.
Police arrested Francis around 2:30 a.m. and charged him with public lewdness, endangering the welfare of a child and trespassing.
It was not clear how many homes he allegedly targeted.
The NYPD confirmed that Francis has been suspended without pay. Police in Rockville Centre are expected to release more details later Monday.
An NYPD detective who copped to being a serial pervert, masturbating in front of young girls, received a desk-appearance ticket and was released from custody Monday, authorities said.
The police commissioner of Rockville Centre, LI, where disgraced Detective Robert Francis was allegedly caught in the act Sunday, defended officials’ decision not to keep the cop in custody, saying he was in no way given “special treatment” because he’s an officer.
“We only charged him with misdemeanors,” Police Commissioner Charles Gennario said. “That’s all we could charge him with. He was not a danger in that sense that he was now known to us.”
Francis, 46, was busted around 2:30 a.m. Sunday when he was caught standing in the driveway of a Rockville Centre home with a flashlight, authorities said.
Officials say he would shine a flashlight into bedroom windows to get the attention of his female victims, then begin masturbating when they looked outside.
The Queens cop, who has been suspended from the NYPD, was charged with four incidents of public lewdness dating back to Feb. 5.
Three of his female victims were under the age of 16, Gennario said.
“He would drive into town,” he said. “He would leave his vehicle blocks from where he was going to victimize people.”
The commish insisted that Francis’ victims “were chosen at random. It was a coincidence that they were young girls.”
When Francis was arrested Sunday, he admitted to the earlier incidents and showed “remorse,” Gennario said.
“He kept telling the investigating detective that he was going through tough times,” the commissioner said. “I spoke to my detective just before we came in here, and he was concerned that he might harm himself.”
Francis was also charged with three counts of endangering the welfare of a child and trespassing.