Seattle man turning in his sex offender paperwork is arrested for committing sex act at sheriff's office

SEATTLE -- A 50-year-old Seattle man who was recently released from jail has been arrested for allegedly masturbating in the King County Sheriff's Office while turning in his sex offender paperwork, The Seattle Times reported Wednesday.

The newspaper said the defendant, Anthony Hardison, was charged last week with felony indecent exposure due to an Aug. 12 incident that was captured by video-surveillance cameras, according to charging papers. The Times said he is being held in the King County Jail in lieu of $145,000 bail.

Hardison, who has had multiple convictions for indecent exposure since 2013, including for two instances on Metro Transit buses, was sentenced to six months in jail on Aug. 5, but received credit for time served and was released, the Times said.

On Aug. 12, Hardison went to the King County sheriff's sex offender registration office at the King County Building in Seattle  to turn in his sex offender papers, when a female sheriff's employee saw him expose himself and begin masturbating, according to charges.

The employee identified Hardison through the documents he had turned into her, the Times said.  He left after turning in his paperwork, but was arrested the next day on drug charges, the Times said.