A former Safeway grocery store employee in Colorado, who was previously charged with over a dozen counts of indecent exposure after allegedly masturbating outside of public businesses, is now accused of doing obscene things to food items that were “not commercially sealed” at his previous job.
Stephen Masalta is now incarcerated in a Larimer County jail and will appear before a judge on Friday for an advisement hearing, according to a review of the criminal court record.
According to a statement released by the City of Fort Collins, Colorado, police have begun investigating accusations of indecent exposure by a person showing up at area coffee shops to “perform obscene behavior” around or in front of staff, some of whom are kids.
Fort Collins Police Chief Jeff Swoboda stated in an update to the case against Masalta on Thursday that since his arrest in February and the execution of a search warrant on his home, investigators discovered videos of Masalta masturbating and ejaculating on food at Safeway at 1426 East Harmony Road.
“As we went through the evidence we realized there had been many more crimes, and many more victims in our community,” Swodoba said in a statement Thursday.
Masalta worked there for two months and “ejaculated and masturbated on multiple items of food, including those that were not commercially sealed.”
The police chief stated that there would undoubtedly be further victims discovered and charges filed.
Masalta was charged with 14 misdemeanor counts of indecent exposure, two counts of attempted indecent exposure, which is also a misdemeanor, four counts of attempted unlawful sexual contact, and 16 counts of attempted sexual assault on a minor.
It is unclear whether he has hired an attorney.