Sex offender who exposed himself at Amherst Public Library gets 9 months in prison

ELYRIA — A convicted sex offender who exposed himself to a teenage employee at the Amherst Public Library in February and was caught masturbating in front of women on camera is going to prison for nine months. Justin F. Moore, 36, of Youngstown, pleaded guilty Monday in Lorain County Common Pleas Court to 10 criminal charges: Three counts of public indecency and one count of disseminating matter harmful to juveniles, all felonies, and six misdemeanor public indecency charges. A trial had been scheduled to start today in Judge Chris Cook's courtroom. Instead, Assistant Lorain County Prosecutor Paul Griffin and defense attorney Matt Bobrowski worked out a plea agreement that will send Moore to prison for nine months. Cook said Moore will have to serve all of it, with no early release or time off for good behavior. First, Moore will be transferred to Mahoning County where two additional public indecency charges are awaiting him. Cook warned Moore that he could get more prison time if he is released on bond in Mahoning County and fails to surrender to start his prison term by July 22. "I will absolutely not give you those nine months and will probably give you the full two years," Cook told Moore. Moore declined to make a statement in court. Already a registered sex offender in Mahoning County, Moore was charged for two incidents Feb. 5 and Feb. 9 at the Amherst Public Library. Amherst police said Moore showed pornography to an underage library employee, exposed himself and masturbated on Feb. 9. Moore was caught on security camera watching a female library patron. He then got up, followed the teenage employee, then started watching a pornographic video, which he showed the teen. Moore masturbated as he did, authorities said. He left before police arrived, but officers found other footage that showed Moore following a woman in the library on Feb. 5. Moore grabbed at his crotch, dropped his pants, exposed his genitals and masturbated during that incident, the Prosecutor's Office said. He was only arrested after police, using license plate reader cameras to ID the vehicle, stopped his silver 2018 Kia Soul on Feb. 16. A registered sex offender in Mahoning County, Moore has one felony and one misdemeanor charge of public indecency pending in court there. He was charged with exposing his genitals and masturbating while looking at a child outside a McDonald's near Youngstown State University in December 2024. Two women also told YSU police that Moore masturbated while watching them on campus that same day. Bobrowski said his client wants to get those charges taken care of as soon as possible. Moore was labeled a Tier II sex offender after being convicted in 2020 of unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, a felony. The victim in that case was a 13-year-old girl. He also has convictions for failure to register as a sex offender in Mahoning County and public indecency in Trumbull County, according to media reports and court records. Contact Dave O'Brien at (440) 329-7129 or dobrien@chroniclet.com.