Man Charged With Exposure In Trouble Before

SIOUX FALLS, SD - A one-time registered sex offender, who has been in trouble multiple times, is facing new charges.

41-year-old Brett Lee Rechtenbaugh of Colton was arrested Wednesday afternoon for allegedly touching himself in public in the 200 block of South Duluth Avenue.

Rechtenbaugh has been in trouble before. He was arrested for indecent exposure in 2001. In 2004, he was arrested for flashing a seven-year-old girl at a Sioux Falls grocery store. Then Rechtenbaugh was arrested again in 2010 for exposing himself while sitting inside a van; he pled not guilty to that charge and the case was later dismissed.

But police say this latest incident is disturbing because of who was in the area.

"There were reportedly some children nearby, playing outside when this was occurring. The witnesses indicated the man was conducting his business in such a manner it was clearly evident as to what was taking place in the car," Sioux Falls Police Det. Sean Kooistra said.

Rechtenbaugh was on the sex-offender registry at one time. But he's not currently on it.

Because of South Dakota's new tiered system that went into affect in July 2010, 37 sex offenders were automatically removed from the registry. Those cases are misdemeanors for indecent exposures, which the legislature has decided are not offenses that require registration any more.

The Attorney General's office says that law is more than likely why Rechtenbaugh is no longer on the registry.