Honolulu man pleads
guilty to exposing himself

The social service officer flashed
women on three occasions

A Honolulu man pleaded guilty yesterday to exposing himself on three occasions last fall to women in downtown parking lots.

Francis K.S. Kim, 38, entered his pleas as charged to three counts of fourth-degree sexual assault before District Judge William Cardwell, who accepted the plea and set sentencing for June 24. The offense is a misdemeanor punishable by a maximum one year in jail, a $2,000 fine or both.

Kim, a program administrator at the Sand Island substance abuse treatment center, and his attorney declined comment after his plea.

According to Deputy Prosecutor Oksana Vincent, Kim was charged with exposing his genitals to another person on Oct. 25 and Dec. 1 and 2.

On Dec. 1 a 58-year-old woman told police she was leaving the parking lot at 830 Punchbowl St., where the unemployment and state tax offices are located, and saw a man nude and touching himself. A man believed to be the same one was spotted under similar circumstances the next day in the same parking lot, and on Oct. 25 at parking stalls at the nearby Hawaii Supreme Court.

Police issued a CrimeStoppers bulletin on Dec. 9 seeking the public's help, and released a photograph taken by a surveillance camera of a clothed man who matched the description in the Dec. 1 incident.

Police believed the photo was taken before the man took off his clothes.

Kim turned himself in to Kalihi police on Dec. 15 after someone called CrimeStoppers with a tip. He posted $1,000 bail and remains free while awaiting sentencing.