The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence chapter in Eureka, California, apologized Wednesday after a member of the group was arrested for openly masturbating in a public park.
The Humboldt County Sheriff’s Office said numerous witnesses observed Clinton Monroe Ellis-Gilmore “sitting in his truck with the door open, masturbating,” for at least an hour during an Aug. 12 trip to Table Bluff County Park in Loleta.
“It’s obvious,” Randy Fleek, a witness to the alleged crime, told The Daily Wire. “You cannot help but see this guy, he’s not hiding it. He wants everyone to see what he’s doing.”
Mr. Ellis-Gilmore, 53, was charged with indecent exposure. A conviction for the misdemeanor offense can result in up to six months of prison time, a $1,000 fine and requiring the defendant to register as a sex offender.
A representative of the drag group on Wednesday called Mr. Ellis-Gilmore’s arrest “an embarrassment and a blight on our name.”
“The Eureka House of The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence unreservedly condemns the behavior alleged in police reports,” the group said in a statement sent to The Daily Wire. “To have anyone associated with us accused of such behavior is an embarrassment and a blight on our name.”
The incident was covered at the time by a local media outlet, The Lost Coast Populist, but wasn’t picked up by national outlets until Wednesday.
The Lost Coast Populist linked Mr. Ellis-Gilmore to the Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence — which mocks Christian teachings on sex and morality by appearing in drag as raunchy nuns — when the outlet found old photos of the suspect wearing the group’s garb on his Facebook page.
The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence is best known for being invited, then uninvited, then reinvited again to a pregame Pride Night event with Los Angeles Dodgers in June. The group was being honored with the Dodgers’ Community Hero Award for its “lifesaving work.”
Thousands protested on the streets outside Dodger Stadium over the Sisters’ inclusion on Pride Night.
• Matt Delaney can be reached at mdelaney@washingtontimes.com.
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