GOLD HILL — Deputies arrested a convicted sex offender Thursday who walked into a Gold Hill convenience store in a see-through thong.
“You could see everything,” said Yolanda Basinger, store owner.
But the mother of the man charged with indecent exposure says this is not in her son’s character.
Sunday morning a man walked into the Gold Hill Market, 14155 U.S. 52, wearing a rebel flag bandanna on his head, tank top, shoes, socks and a see-through thong.
This wasn’t the first time the suspect came into the store, Basinger said. About two months ago, the same man came in the store wearing an opaque blue thong. One of her employees was there at the time, and Basinger came to the store just after the man left. At the time, they were shocked but found it a bit humorous. They never reported the incident.
But Sunday, Basinger found it less funny when, she says, the same man walked into her store exposing himself.
“It was sickening to me ... It was not funny at all,” she said. “He needs to be stopped ... Who knows what he’s going to do.”
She stopped him at the door and told him to get out, then called law enforcement. Basinger didn’t get the license tag of the man’s red, two-door hatchback bearing several rebel flag stickers.
Basinger’s sister, who also works in the store, and brother-in-law remembered seeing a car similar to the one at the store Sunday. Her brother-in-law went looking and found a car that matched the description, Basinger said. He gave the license tag to the authorities.
Deputy Lana Sterling, who investigated the incident, stopped a vehicle on U.S. 29 Wednesday that matched the description of the suspect’s car. Sterling questioned the two women in the vehicle and obtained the identity of a male suspect. One of the women was the sister of Joseph Franklin Williams, 29, who was later arrested.
On Thursday, officials charged Williams with indecent exposure and failure to notify the Sheriff’s Department of a change of address, a felony. Franklin is a convicted sex offender and must notify the Sheriff’s Department within 10 days of moving.
He is being held in the Rowan County Detention Center under $11,000 bond.
The video camera in the store captured an image of the suspect on tape as he came into the store.
Williams called his mother, Linda Gaultney, from jail to talk to her about his arrest. He asked officials if he could review the video tape, but they would not show it to him, according to Gaultney.
Capt. Tommie Wood said that evidence in a criminal case is made available to a defense attorney requesting it as part of the discovery process. “We would provide it, but there is a procedure to do that and that is the procedure,” Wood said.
Gaultney doesn’t believe her son is guilty. “I can’t swear to it,” she says, but she doesn’t think he did it. Gaultney said her daughter saw a man in a red car who looked a lot like Williams in the Kannapolis area Thursday night. She thinks it may be someone else who looks like him.
Gaultney also believes he is innocent of the previous charges.
Franklin served 1 12 years in prison for taking indecent liberties with a minor after an alleged incident with a teen-age girl. Franklin was convicted in March 1999 and sentenced to a year and 10 months with three years probation.
Gaultney said her son was in jail awaiting trial on the first charge and decided to plead guilty to get the incident over with and get back home to his 8-year-old daughter.
“She’s the one that done the paying for it,” Gaultney said.
Williams’ daughter lived with Gaultney while he served his sentence but returned to Williams’ custody when he returned home, Gaultney said. Now the girl is with Williams’ sister.
According to his N.C. Sex Offender Registry form, he last listed his address as 320 Hartley Road, Lot No. 20, but he currently lives at 5920 Meadow Lane.
Contact Jillian McCartney at 704-797-4253 or jmccartney@salisburypost.com
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