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Jul. 20--She had notified police and filed a report, but one 20-year-old West Babylon woman still wasn't satisfied that the man who had exposed himself to her and a friend on Sunday wasn't behind bars, police said.
So the woman, whose name police are withholding because she is the victim of a sex crime, went online to the New York State Sex Offender Registry, typed in her ZIP code and spotted his picture.
On Tuesday, she drove with her father past the North Babylon residence of Patrick Oliveri, 39, recognized him again and called police. They arrested him soon after.
"It was an innovative approach to figuring out who did this," said Det. Lt. James Maher, commander of Suffolk's First Squad. "And it was fortunate because it probably prevented him from doing it again."
Yesterday, Oliveri, of 214 Montgomery Ave., was arraigned in First District Court, Central Islip, and charged with public lewdness. Oliveri, who was convicted of sexual abuse in 1992, was being held on $500 bail, authorities said. A woman who answered the phone at his house declined to comment.
Police said that on Sunday the two women, ages 20 and 21, were seated in a parked car on Sheffield Avenue in West Babylon at 10 p.m. when a naked man came out from the woods and began to masturbate in front of them.
He fled on a bicycle and the women called the police.
Two days later, the 20-year-old found Oliveri's name and picture on the registry. His profile lists him as a level two offender -- meaning he has been classified as having a "moderate risk of repeat offense." It also shows his picture, a physical description and information on a 1992 conviction for sexual abuse in the first degree against a female.
That victim's age and further details were not available.
"She was able to identify him in that way and subsequently went by his house," Maher said.
Police said she spotted him in his yard, picked up her father, drove by again and called police. Detectives from the First Squad responded and arrested him.
Laura Ahearn, executive director of Parents for Megan's Law, said it was the first time she had heard of a young victim using the registry to identify a suspect.
"That was really quick thinking," Ahearn said. "I think that the amount of information that's gone out to the community about all the resources that are available are finally paying off."
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Copyright (c) 2006, Newsday, Melville, N.Y.
Distributed by McClatchy-Tribune Business News.
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