Batavia police seek serial flasher

Authorities have issued an arrest warrant for a former Elgin man and Aurora resident who is accused of exposing himself to customers at a store along Randall Road in Batavia in December.

James E. Rozema, 57, whose last known residence was a homeless shelter in Aurora, has several convictions for public indecency, court records show.

He also is wanted by Aurora police for failing to notify authorities of a new address under sex offender laws.

A new arrest warrant was issued for him Thursday in McHenry County Circuit Court after he failed to appear for a scheduled date in a 2011 Crystal Lake case charging him with public indecency.

Batavia Police Detective Kevin Bretz Friday said Rozema is wanted in connection with an incident at The Chalkboard, a teacher supplies store.

According to court documents, Rozema is accused of exposing himself to two customers. Bretz said customers complained that Rozema was also performing lewd acts.

The felony public indecency charge carries a prison term of one to three years if found guilty, and Rozema is facing more severe felony charges from Aurora police, who have charged him with failing to notify authorities of a change in address. That felony is punishable by up to seven years in prison if found guilty.

According to court records, Rozema was sentenced to prison at least twice for exposing himself and performing lewd acts in public.

Rozema pleaded guilty to exposing himself on Sept. 28, 2008, to a 64-year-old woman customer at a South Elgin store and was sentenced to two years in prison, according to court records.

He also pleaded guilty to exposing himself to clerks on Oct. 1, 2005, at another store in Batavia while working as a cabdriver.

Rozema parked his cab, ran into the store naked from the waist down and “twirled his pants over his head in front of several female clerks and ran back to his cab. Witnesses got his license plate number, tracing the defendant back to the cab company,” according to court documents. Rozema got 18 months in prison for that offense.

He also has misdemeanor and felony offenses in Lake County.

Rozema is due in Kane County court Feb. 7 for a hearing that he violated his 18-month probation for a failure to register as a sex offender in Aurora in January 2011, according to court records.

Ÿ Daily Herald staff writer Susan Sarkauskas contributed to this story.