Local authorities have arrested a 47-year-old Buford man who is accused of masturbating in public and targeting young people in a series of incidents of public indecency.

Joseph Scott Hice of Buford was arrested Wednesday for allegedly pacing “alongside a school bus down Peachtree Parkway for a minute” while masturbating in plain view of students on the bus, according to Cpl. Doug Rainwater of the Forsyth County Sheriff’s Office.   

Rainwater said that Hice is accused of pacing alongside a school bus twice in August.

He said that after Hice’s car was identified by witnesses, deputies determined that he was also a suspect in a previous incident in May where he allegedly masturbated in his car near students from South Forsyth High School.

“He was sitting in his car at the Dunkin‘ Donuts on Peachtree Parkway masturbating as young girls walked by,” Rainwater said. “We believe he was targeting young people.”

In addition to the counts he is now charged with, Rainwater said that Hice may have violated his parole in Gwinnett County for a similar charge. 

Gwinnett County Court Records show that Hice was charged with public indecency there in October of 2017.

Hice has been charged with three counts of misdemeanor public indecency and is being held in custody at the Forsyth County Jail under a bond of $6,620.