Scott Cline, 35

ANN ARBOR, MI - A man will serve five years of probation for masturbating within sight of children on their way to an Ann Arbor school.

Scott Cline, 35, of Ann Arbor was sentenced on April 25 in Washtenaw County Trial Court for four counts of aggravated indecent exposure in November and December of 2015. He also is required to register as a sex offender.

Cline declined to address the court at the sentencing or comment following the court appearance. However, his Brighton-based attorney Kevin Nagle said Cline is paying for his "horrible blunder in judgment."

"I think, under the circumstances, that the court took appropriate action," he said following the court appearance. "He's lost his job, his wife left him ... the consequences of his actions have been severe."

Police reports show a parent of Ann Arbor Open School students contacted police on Dec. 2, 2015, after his 8-year-old and 10-year-old daughters told him a white, bald, overweight man was exposing himself to them on their way to school.

The incidents occurred in the area of Brooks Street near the school, which is located at 920 Miller Ave.

"He has his pants down and with a foot on the steering wheel and his hands on his penis," the first report said. "He is doing this in a way to make sure the children see him."

The older of the two children later told Ann Arbor police detectives that the person exposed himself to them five or six times over the course of November and the start of December, although the younger child said it was only two times.

They saw him numerous times previously when he did not expose himself, the children said. The older child said the individual would stop to let the girls cross the street.

"As they were going through is when he would be holding his private area in his hand and waving them to go by," the girl told detectives.

The younger sister said the man would shake his genitalia at them.

After Ann Arbor police contacted the school and requested extra patrols, the Ann Arbor police received a tip on Dec. 7, 2015, that other children had seen a silver truck matching the description of the vehicle involved in the area.

On Dec. 11, 2015, Ann Arbor Open School Assistant Principal Christopher Curtis spotted the truck involved for a second time in a week and got a license plate number. The license plate number led police to Cline.

The older of the two girls selected Cline from a photo lineup, but the younger could not identify the suspect. Later, it was discovered the girls had been walking with a different child who also saw the exposure on a few occasions. She also selected Cline's photo from a photo lineup as probably being the suspect.

Cline was arrested, a search of his home was conducted and his vehicle was impounded on Dec. 29, 2015.

Forensic testing found semen on the seat of Cline's truck and on a tissue in the truck.

Cline admitted in a police interview to masturbating in his truck six months prior to his arrest, but eventually asked for a lawyer, the reports showed. His wife later told police that after his arrest, Cline admitted to masturbating while driving to relieve stress from recent fatherhood, but was attempting to do so without anyone seeing and thought he wasn't seen by anyone.

Cline pleaded guilty to the charges in March.

Nagle said evaluations of Cline and reports in the case don't show that Cline was using children as stimulation. He said Cline has never been in trouble with the law before and is benefiting from counseling.

Assistant Washtenaw County Prosecutor Dianna Collins asked that the court include a stipulation that Cline undergo a sex offender evaluation. She said she doesn't believe Cline is being truthful, either with himself or the court, that he thought children wouldn't be able to see his actions in his truck.

"He was in a truck that was pretty high off the ground and girls of that age, I think, it would be difficult for them to have seen him if he were seated in a normal position within the truck," she said. "In fact what they described was that he was putting his foot up on the steering wheel, masturbating and kind of pointing himself toward them as they were outside of the window."

She said the evaluation would help him take full responsibility and Washtenaw County Trial Court Judge David S. Swartz agreed to the condition of probation.

Darcie Moran covers cops and courts for MLive and The Ann Arbor News. Email her at dmoran@mlive.com or follow her on Twitter @darciegmoran.