He’s held on $25,000 bail

BY BILL DEMAREST

WEST NYACK – A Valley Cottage man has been charged in connection with three lewd incidents involving children at Palisades Center mall in West Nyack and is being held on $25,000 bail, according to Clarkstown police.

David Chardon, 22, of Valley Cottage, was arrested today by Clarkstown detectives after an investigation of incidents involving three children in late 2013. Police said the investigation into the Chardon is continuing.

He has had to received special handling by authorities because he is deaf mute.

Chardon is accused of:

– One count of public lewdness and one count of endangering the welfare of a child, both misdemeanors, in connection with a Nov. 23 incident at the Barnes & Noble bookstore. He is accused of exposing himself to a 9 year old girl.

– One count of public lewdness and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for an incident which on Dec. 21 at Bed, Bath & Beyond in which he is accused of exposing himself to an 8-year-old victim.

– One count of first-degree sex abuse, a felony, one count of public lewdness and one count of endangering the welfare of a child for an incident which on Dec. 26 at Barnes & Noble in which is accused of performing a lewd act in the vicinity of a 10-year-old girl.

Chardon was arraigned by Clarkstown Town Judge Judge Craig Johns and was ordered held in the Rockland County Correctional Facility in New City on $25,000 bail pending a hearing in Town Court on Wednesday.

Police said they were led to Chardon from numerous tips that came in to the police department from the public. Police distributed flyers with images taken from security video in hopes of identifying a man they believed to be connected to the incidents at the mall.

Chardon, police said, is not employed and he would frequently walk around the mall. Police initially knew of two lewd incidents they believed to be connected, but the list grew to three as the investigation continued.

Police ask that anyone with information about these incident call the Clarkstown Police Department at 845-639-5800 or the TIPS line at 1-877-639-6233.