Staff report
GAINESVILLE, Fla. – A 49-year-old Orange Park man was arrested early Sunday after Gainesville police said he entered a secluded backyard near the University of Florida campus and looked through the windows of a home.
Police said the incident began around 11:18 p.m. on August 15 at a residence in the neighborhood across University Avenue from the O’Connell Center. According to the report, two victims were inside the home when one of them, after getting out of the shower, received a phone alert that security cameras had detected a person in the backyard. The responding Gainesville Police Department officer noted that the yard is not accessible from a public road; to reach it, someone would have to use a trail along the side of the residence to enter the fenced area.
Security footage reportedly showed a white man wearing shorts, tennis shoes, black socks, and a loose shirt with “Cloister”-style lettering on the front. Police said the video showed the man pacing for two to three minutes and rubbing his genitals while looking toward the first victim’s bedroom and bathroom windows during the time she was showering.
An officer later located Johnnie Thomas Raben III in the 2000 block of NW 3rd Avenue. Police said his clothing matched the person seen in the footage, except he was not wearing a shirt at first. When Raben noticed the officer, he allegedly put on a baggy shirt with the same “Cloister”-style lettering visible in the video.
After being read his Miranda rights, Raben reportedly told police he had been exercising in the area. He said he lives about an hour and a half away in Orange Park and had consumed three beers at a bar that evening before parking near the victim’s home to “sweat out the alcohol.” Officers later found his vehicle in the 1400 block of NW 5th Avenue, roughly a 20-minute walk from the residence.
Raben also allegedly admitted to urinating in public, though he told police he had been only a few feet from the road and had not gone onto anyone’s property. The officer noted in the report that the conduct violated a Gainesville disorderly conduct ordinance and that a witness is not required to establish an indecent exposure violation under that ordinance.
Both victims reportedly identified Raben as the man seen in the security camera footage.
Raben later told the officer he is a handyman who normally stays at a motel near the intersection of Tower Road and Newberry Road, but he did not rent a room for Saturday night. The officer noted that Raben did not have any reason to be in the victim’s area, and Raben does not know anyone in that area. After he was shown the video, Raben reportedly admitted to crossing through the woods into the victims’ back yard.
Raben has been charged with burglary of an occupied dwelling (for entering the curtilage of the victim’s residence), voyeurism, and violation of a City ordinance for disorderly conduct. He has fifteen felony convictions (one violent) and six misdemeanor convictions (non-violent), including two previous convictions for indecent exposure. He has served two state prison sentences, with his most recent release in 2019. Judge Gloria Walker set bail at $110,000.
Articles about arrests are based on reports from law enforcement agencies. The charges listed are taken from the arrest report and/or court records and are only accusations. All suspects are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.
