Man booked on charges of public sexual indecency at library

An incident at the Maricopa Community Library last month has led the facility to take a second look at its policies.

According to the Pinal County Sheriff’s Office, Corey Vincent Alberto, 21, of Maricopa, was found masturbating in the computer lab area of the library in the presence of a minor.

Sgt. Roy Polmanteer said three separate individuals provided statements consistent with the fact that Alberto was masturbating. Upon officers arriving, Alberto had left the scene. “It was found that the suspect had visited ‘bondage’ Web sites and viewed You Tube Web sites of a sexual nature,” Polmanteer said.

Alberto was taken into custody at his residence and booked into the Pinal County Adult Detention Center. Alberto was charged with public sexual indecency.

“We take patron safety very seriously and the situation disgusts me,” PRL Director Marty McDonald said. “This patron (Alberto) has been permanently banned and all library use privileges have been revoked. We take this issue very seriously and we have implemented the maximum penalty we’re capable of. I want to reiterate that the library is a safe place to visit. However, there are victim’s rights we must respect at this time.”

McDonald said the library has created a very comprehensive policy that it is asking City Council to approve at its next meeting on Aug. 21.

The Maricopa Community Library is part of the Pinal County Library District (PCLD) and operates under a mixture of City and PCLD policy and procedures. Recently, staff spent time researching library use policies from Phoenix, Glendale, Tempe, Dallas, San Francisco and New York. The goal was to gain a better understanding of local libraries as well as national libraries and their respective Internet use policies.

According to McDonald, as per the new Internet use policy, the library has no means or statutory authority to assure that only constitutionally protected material is accessed by the public. The authority to determine what illegal content is falls under the purview of Arizona Revised Statutes not with the library staff. The availability of information does not constitute endorsement of the content by the library. The library expressly disclaims any liability or responsibility arising from the access to or use of information obtained through electronic resources, or any consequences thereof.

“We re-evaluated where we stand with our policy and where we should be,” McDonald said. “Our department has always been proactive and we will continue to ensure that library patrons can enjoy free computer access in a safe and protected environment. The policy is very good but at the same time, responsibility falls onto the user and the content they choose to view. The First Amendment is pretty powerful.”

McDonald added that library staff is working on a plan to move the computers from their existing location to an area that can be monitored in a clear capacity.

Photo by Dave Thomas