TheMorningStar
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HAMILTON - His first six public indecency convictions - including one in which he used a plastic Halloween pumpkin for sexual pleasure - resulted in little punishment and no treatment.
But on Tuesday, a Hamilton man's latest escapade resulted in a $1,000 fine, an order to undergo treatment for his behavior, and a warning that he will go to prison for a year if he fails to follow strict probation rules.
Judge Noah Powers also lectured Edwin Charles Tobergta III.
"(Other people) don't have the appreciation for your body that you do," Powers said. "The lesson is: Keep it to yourself. People don't want public displays."
Usually, public indecency is a misdemeanor. But because of Tobergta's history of offenses dating to 1999, the charge for his most recent incident was elevated to a felony.
In April, a Hamilton resident reported spotting a man standing in a neighbor's yard, nude and masturbating while looking at children through a window, Assistant Prosecutor John Heinkel said. Tobergta later pleaded guilty, which led to his tearful plea for mercy Tuesday.
"I regret my past ... I've been dealing with this problem ever since I was a kid ... I put myself through a lot of embarrassment," Tobergta told Powers.
Tobergta gained unwanted publicity in October 2002, when a Hamilton woman reported he was having sexual relations with an inflated, illuminated four-foot-tall plastic pumpkin she kept on her porch as a Halloween decoration.
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