WINTER HAVEN, FL (WFLA) — Winter Haven police have made an arrest in the case of a man who allegedly exposed himself to a 7-year-old girl at the Winter Haven Public Library.
Police arrested 22-year-old Adam Timothy Tharp of Winter Haven on Thursday night after a tip was received following media reports. Tharp has been charged with Lewd/Lascivious Exhibition and booked into the Polk County Jail.
“He indicated to our detectives that he just enjoyed looking at children’s books and he connected with children, he understood children. He didn’t think he was doing anything wrong. He denied exposing himself, ” said Jamie Brown with the Winter Haven Police department.
The tipster told police they worked with Tharp in 2015, and had been accused of similar acts around that time.
An additional tip came in from a library worker at the Lakeland Public Library, who stated they had video images of someone matching the description of Tharp at the library on Wednesday evening, the day after the incident at the Winter Haven library. Staff at the Lakeland library approached Tharp and asked him to leave the children’s area. They also called Lakeland Police, but by the time officers arrived, he had already left the library. There is no report of Tharp exposing himself in the Lakeland incident; only acting suspicious.
Police say the incident in Winter Haven happened on Tuesday around 4:10 p.m. at the Winter Haven Public Library in the children’s section.
Police say the young girl was reading in the library when she heard a whisper-sound like someone trying to get her attention. When she looked up police say Tharp was sitting on the floor between two rows of books and exposed himself to her. The girl immediately ran and told her mom. By the time she described the suspect, he had already left the library.
Police say it appears Tharp had been in the library for quite a while in different locations. There is video of him spending about 30 minutes in an adjoining room, apparently watching the children’s area.
No one answered the door at Tharp’s Winter Haven apartment on Friday. A man who identified himself as the landlord said he was aware of the arrest and has evicted Tharp as a result.
“We’re just thankful that this little girl did exactly what she needed to do, tell somebody because there could be others that were victimized but they never told anybody,” said Brown.
