Pierce City man facing multiple misconduct charges

A Pierce City man was booked into the Lawrence County Jail on Jan. 17 for allegedly exposing himself to customers in the city’s Dollar General and was released with electrical monitoring on Jan. 24. About two weeks later, he was back in the jail. James Anderson, 61, faces two counts of sexual misconduct from the first alleged incident, and three counts of sexual misconduct involving a child under 15 from the second.

The first alleged incident
According to the probable cause statement in the first incident, on July 23, 2022, an employee at Dollar General approached Michael Abramovitz, chief of the Pierce City Police Department, and reported that a customer came to her and reported that a man who was wearing pajama bottoms, later identified as Anderson, had his genitalia exposed outside of his pants.
The employee said she and a co-worker confronted Anderson, however, he and a woman both left before police arrived. Abramovitz reported he went to Anderson’s residence and spoke to him, but Anderson denied the accusations.
Three days later, Abramovitz received another call, this time from a woman who said a man, also later identified as Anderson, was looking at her. She said he then approached her and her sisters with his genitals pulled through his pants, and that he was touching them as he watched them. The woman said she went to the store’s employees to report Anderson, but he left the store before they could confront him.
Abramovitz reported that he went to speak to Anderson at his residence again on Aug. 2. Asked about the first incident, Anderson again denied exposing himself and said that he doesn’t wear pajama bottoms inside the store. After Abramovitz asked him about the second incident, Anderson said he didn’t expose himself on either occasion, and then told Abramovitz he was done speaking and went inside.

The second alleged incident
According to the probable cause statement in the second on the morning of Feb. 10, two students at Central Elementary School in Pierce City approached an administrator and reported that a man at Anderson’s residence exposed himself as their school bus passed. The exposure allegedly happened on Feb. 8, Feb. 9 and Feb. 10.
A Lawrence County deputy sheriff was also on the bus on the morning of Feb. 10, and he reported seeing a man matching Anderson’s description appear in the front window of Anderson’s residence with his pants lowered and his genitals in his right hand. The facility monitoring Anderson’s electronic monitor reported that the monitor was located at the front of the residence in the vicinity of the window when the alleged incidents occurred.
Anderson was taken back into custody later on Feb. 10 and booked back into the Lawrence County Jail; Lawrence County Prosecutor Darlene Parrigon requested that he be held without bond pending trial, according to court documents. As of press time, he remained in the jail. He is scheduled to appear in court for a bond reduction hearing on Monday, Feb. 27.
According to the criminal complaint in the first incident, Anderson is a prior offender with a previous conviction for public indecency in Randolph County, Illinois on Dec. 6, 2013. If convicted of all counts, Anderson faces a maximum sentence of 14 years in prison.