Update, April 4:
Anchorage police have arrested 41-year-old Natchez Dunlap on a felony charge of indecent exposure. Police said they found Dunlap in a Spenard home and took him into custody shortly before 1 p.m. on Thursday, April 4. He was transported to the Anchorage Correctional Complex.
Original story, March 12:
Anchorage police are seeking a man accused of masturbating in front of a young girl last month at a local fitness club, which didn’t file a police report on the incident or another one last fall involving the same suspect.
According to an email from police spokeswoman Renee Oistad, 41-year-old Natchez Dunlap has been charged with a felony count of first-degree indecent exposure in the Feb. 10 incident. Officers were called that afternoon to the Alaska Club’s South location, off O’Malley Road near the Old Seward Highway, after Dunlap reportedly exposed himself to a young girl.
“The crime had reportedly taken place in the hot tub at (the club) approximately 30 minutes before officers were called,” Oistad wrote. “Dunlap had left the club prior to police notification.”
In a criminal complaint against Dunlap, police said staff at the club identified him based on his membership. Police say a four-minute surveillance video of the incident, just after noon on Feb. 10, allegedly captured him “making a repeated stroking motion” with his hand near his genitals after the 4-year-old victim got into the tub.
Subsequent surveillance video showed Dunlap speaking with the victim’s mother, before she left to report the incident.
In an anonymous post Monday night on the Alaska Scanner John Facebook page, a person who identified herself as the mother said she was swimming with her 3-year-old daughter when her 4-year-old visited the adjacent hot tub to warm up. She soon returned to the pool, saying a man in the hot tub had exposed himself.
The post also included a photo, allegedly showing Dunlap looking at the girls in the hot tub as they awaited a response from club staff.
The poster said she immediately reported the incident to staff at the club, who said they would review video footage. Staff later told her Dunlap’s membership had been revoked, but no police report had been filed. She then filed a report, listing Dunlap’s name and the police case number.
“Needless to say I’m disappointed in this sick man, but also Alaska Club,” the poster wrote.
According to the police complaint, further investigation found that staff at the same Alaska Club location had received an October report of another incident in which Dunlap was allegedly “visibly touching himself and showing himself” to an 8-year-old girl.
“The Alaska Club investigated and did not find video surveillance to support the report. The incident was not reported to the Anchorage Police Department,” police wrote. “However, the incident involving that juvenile is now being investigated.”
Alaska Club officials declined an interview request from Alaska Public Media to discuss the Feb. 10 incident. In a statement emailed Tuesday afternoon, senior marketing vice president Debbie Cedeno said club staff removed Dunlap after the incident, banned him from all Alaska Club facilities and cooperated with the police investigation.
Cedeno said staff “take each and every report at the club seriously and our ongoing commitment remains ensuring a secure environment for all.”
Police say Dunlap, whom court records show has multiple prior convictions for misdemeanor assault, is aware he is being sought.
According to police, Dunlap stands 6 feet tall, weighs 190 pounds and has brown eyes and dyed blond hair. Anyone with information on his whereabouts can call police at 311 or make an anonymous report online at Anchorage Crime Stoppers.
Chris Klint is a web producer and breaking news reporter at Alaska Public Media. Reach him at cklint@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Chris here.
