JUNEAU, Alaska-On Thursday, Eugene J Bourdon, age 53, of Juneau, was convicted on one count of Public Lewdness. The trial by jury lasted one day in District Court. He received the maximum sentence for the charge, 90 days in jail. Public Lewdness is a Class"B" misdemeanor.
What were the origins of this case? In July of this year, a Walmart employee called the Juneau Police Department to report a man touching himself inappropriately while photographing children in the store. The employee stated that Bourdon had his pants down low enough to expose his underwear and he appeared to be masturbating. He had been following two girls between the ages of 8 to 12 and photographing them. The little girls were close by at the time. The responding officer, using an ultraviolet light, observed what was reported as ejaculate in the area.
Police responded and detained Bourdon, it was at that time that his probation officer, Sara Dallas, instructed the Juneau police to check his camera for photos of children. According to authorities, Bourdon was on probation at the time of his arrest at Walmart. The probation was for 4 counts of Second Degree Sexual Abuse of a Minor. He was to have no unauthorized contact with any children under the age of 16.
According to the affidavit filed by City Prosecutor August Petropulos, the responding officer found 192 photographs on Bourdon’s camera. The affidavit went further, saying, there were up skirt videos as well as many photos focusing on the groins of women and girls. There was allegedly two videos showing sexually explicit activity involving a girl age 5 to 8.
Bourdon was originally charged with two counts of Possession of Child Pornography and one count of Indecent Exposure. Those charges would be dropped however on the 3rd of August. He was charged with Public Lewdness in September.
Bourdon has a history of objectionable behavior. His records show that he was convicted of exposing himself to a five-year-old child as far back as 1979. This was followed by a conviction of fourth degree Criminal Mischief in 1986, when he was caught in the crawlspace between the men’s and women’s restrooms at the Shee Atika Hotel. That same year, he was convicted of Attempted Sexual Assault when he attempted to abduct two girls at the Blanchley Middle School in Sitka. The two girls were able to escape.
He was convicted in a similar case to the current one in 1992, when he was convicted of Indecent Exposure for following children and masturbating in their vicinity.
He was convicted again in 1993 for Indecent Exposure.