Police arrested a registered sex offender after he allegedly masturbated in public in front of the Claremont Library Thursday afternoon.

Javier Sanchez, a 26-year-old transient, was arrested about an hour after a witness said she saw him committing the lewd act just before 3 p.m., according to Sgt. Robert Ewing of the Claremont Police Department.

The witness, who did not wish to be identified, told the COURIER she was on the phone in front of the library on Harvard Avenue when she saw Mr. Sanchez commit the act.

“The whole situation took five seconds,” the witness said. “I said, ‘Oh my god, what are you doing?’”

The witness said Mr. Sanchez finished and walked away “like nothing happened.” The witness’ child was inside the library in a window but did not see the lewd act.

Mr. Sanchez could not be located when police initially arrived, but he was later found in a men’s restroom at the library about an hour later, Sgt. Ewing said.

Mr. Sanchez is on the sex offender registry, Sgt. Ewing said, and is a known transient in the area.

Mr. Sanchez has a long record of arrests by Claremont police, including misdemeanor arrests on October 6 and December 11, 2018, and again on January 11, and August 14, 2019.

He arrested for misdemeanor sexual battery and criminal trespassing on February 4, 2019 by Claremont PD after he grabbed the buttocks of a 31-year-old woman near College Avenue and Fourth Street, according to a previous COURIER article. He later pleaded no contest and was sentenced on June 20, 2019 to 273 days in the LA County jail, according to the Los Angeles County Superior Court database.

The reason and terms of his release were not available.

He is described as a Hispanic male, standing six feet, one inch tall, weighing 185 pounds with black hair and brown eyes, according to Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department inmate records.

He was arrested on suspicion of indecent exposure and taken to CPD jail. He was being held on $10,000 bail, and is scheduled to appear at Pomona Superior Court on November 25.

—Matthew Bramlett

news@claremont-courier.com