Convicted exposer gets two years

Man had approached children in a Russian neighborhood near Schrock

November 24, 2005

MARY AMES\Frontiersman reporter

PALMER - A man convicted of exposing himself to children in a Russian neighborhood off Schrock Road received a sentence of two years in prison, with a year of probation, at a hearing Friday in Palmer Superior Court.

Judge Eric Smith sentenced Edward Allen Butler, 47, of Wasilla, who was on probation for a 2001 marijuana grow operation when he was arrested in August 2004 on two counts of first-degree indecent exposure and driving under the influence of alcohol, according to court records.

Troopers arrested Butler after neighbors reported his white Pontiac in the area. For several weeks before his arrest, the driver of the Pontiac had approached children, exposed himself to them, wandered in the nearby woods for hours at a time and sped away when adults tried to get the license plate number of his car, court records indicated. Butler was finally caught when area residents recognized the car and turned its license plate number in to troopers.

After a brief car chase, troopers stopped Butler on Sushana Road. His breath-alcohol level at the scene was reported to be .256 - a person with a level above .08 is considered legally drunk in the state of Alaska.

Saying he couldn't sentence someone to more than five years on a Class C felony, Smith asked Palmer Assistant District Suzanne Powell to show why a greater sentence was needed to protect society.

&#8220He was terrorizing the neighborhood,” Powell said. &#8220Little girls, some as young as 6 and 8 years old, the defendant blocked the path in front of them with his car - vulnerable children, in a Russian neighborhood, while he was on felony probation.”

Butler's probation officer said Butler was obviously escalating his criminal behavior and resisted treatment.

&#8220He's drawn a gun on two other people and threatened to kill them,” that officer, Conrad Brown, said. &#8220He's been kicked out of two treatment programs.”

Butler's public defender, Holly Handler, asked that he be put on probation for all three counts against him.

&#8220He gave up smoking pot in January 2003, which was hard to do, and he's proud of that,” Handler said.

Handler said Butler had been in treatment programs and has had only &#8220three drinking episodes” in the last four years.

Butler had a &#8220string of problems” in 2004, but there was no similarity between this case and his previous crimes, she said. Handler asked that Butler be sentenced to two years' probation on all three counts.

&#8220What he did to those kids in that neighborhood was flat reprehensible,” Smith said. &#8220Mr. Butler needs to seek treatment and they don't offer it in jail anymore. I hope he succeeds on probation.”

Smith sentenced Butler, who is already serving time on assault charges, to a two-year presumptive sentence on the indecent exposure counts, with one year of probation and one month on a driving under the influence charge, with a $1,500 fine and revocation of his driver's license for 90 days.

Butler has about three years' probation hanging over his head when he gets out of jail, according to Powell.

According to a statement Brown made to the judge, Butler is being investigated in cases involving two more sex offenses involving minors.

Contact Mary Ames at 352-2284 or mary.ames@

frontiersman.com.