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Man Charged for Groping Women and Lewdness in Brooklyn, Police Say

By Serena Dai | June 5, 2015 12:27pm | Updated on June 8, 2015 8:53am
 A woman said she was groped by a man on Jackson Street near Graham Avenue.
A woman said she was groped by a man on Jackson Street near Graham Avenue.
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DNAinfo/Serena Dai

WILLIAMSBURG — A Brownsville man was charged for 10 separate public lewdness and groping incidents in Williamsburg and Greenpoint — and investigations are ongoing to see if he's responsible for more, officials said.

Police charged 20-year-old Joshua Griffith with multiple counts of sexual abuse, forcible touching and public lewdness for crimes that took place between April 22 and June 3, police said.

He was arrested Thursday morning near Humboldt Street and Metropolitan Avenue after a woman recognized him as a man who exposed himself to her and called police.

The incidents included exposing his genitals to women before fleeing, lifting up a woman's dress and touching her, and touching women, police said.

Most of the incidents happened in the early morning hours, between 6:30 a.m. and 8:30 a.m., with one happening at 12:50 a.m.

Most of them also happened in Williamsburg in the residential area surrounding the Graham Avenue L train stop.

On Wednesday, April 22 around 7:30, near Humboldt and Jackson streets, Griffith approached a woman and exposed himself.

He exposed his genitals again on Saturday, May 2 around 7:30 a.m., near Skillman Avenue and Graham Avenue.

On Tuesday, May 5 around 8 a.m., near Skillman Avenue and Woodpoint Road, he exposed his genitals to a woman.

The following week, on Wednesday, May 13 around 6:30 a.m., he exposed his genitals to a woman around Graham Avenue and Jackson Street.

On Wednesday, May 20 around 8:30 a.m., Griffith allegedly lifted up a woman's dress near Jackson Street and Graham Avenue before touching her and fleeing.

Two days later, on May 22 around 8 a.m. near Skillman Avenue and Graham Avenue, he touched a woman and fled, police said.

He touched a woman again on Wednesday, May 27 around 7:30 a.m., police said.

This Monday, June 1, he exposed himself to a woman near Jackson and Humboldt streets around 6:40 a.m. The same day, around 8 a.m., he touched a woman near Metropolitan Avenue and Humboldt Street.

Finally, in one incident in Greenpoint, Griffith exposed himself to a woman on North Henry Street and Engert Avenue on Wednesday, June 3 around 12:50 a.m., police said.

The Special Victims Unit of the NYPD is still investigating to see if there were any other victims, police said.

Nearly a dozen women have said they'd been groped in the area in recent weeks, though it's not immediately clear which and how many of those incidents were linked to Griffith.

He has not yet been arraigned, according to the Brooklyn District Attorney's office.

Local resident Caitlin Thomsen, 33, said she identified Griffith in a lineup as the man who slapped her butt on Skillman Avenue near Graham Avenue on May 22.

She was thrilled to hear the news of Griffith's arrest and was happy that the community was able to come together to figure out what was happening, she said.

"I'm definitely relieved," Thomsen said. "I feel much better and safer walking around in my neighborhood."