George Tobin
A Tacony man with three prior prison stints and more than a dozen arrests for charges including harassment, lewdness and corrupting a minor was locked up again on April 29 for allegedly accosting several young women at Philadelphia University.
George Tobin, 46, of the 7100 block of Keystone St., first got into trouble more than a quarter-century ago, according to Philadelphia court records, but he had been essentially free from trouble in the city since 1995.
Police now say he was responsible for five incidents of harassment or indecent exposure involving women near the university’s East Falls campus. One occurred at 1 p.m. on April 18, followed by four more from noon to 1 p.m. on April 24. The women victims ranged in age from 18 to 26. Police allege that Tobin approached the women and asked them inappropriate questions. In at least one case, Tobin allegedly exposed his genitals.
Tobin was questioned at the police department’s Special Victims Unit on April 29 and subsequently charged with indecent exposure, open lewdness and harassment.
According to court records, Tobin was first arrested in 1986 for reckless endangerment and assault. He was convicted of simple assault and sentenced to probation. From 1987 through early 1989, he was charged in at least nine separate cases, mostly involving harassment and related offenses. In one 1988 incident involving a 10-year-old child, he was accused of indecent exposure, lewdness and corrupting a minor, but those charges were later withdrawn. In another 1988 incident, he was accused of impersonating a public servant, in addition to other charges.
All nine cases were adjudicated in Common Pleas Court on March 23, 1989, where he pleaded guilty to harassment, making terroristic threats, simple assault, indecent assault and theft, while the prosecutor withdrew numerous other charges. A judge sentenced Tobin to 11 to 23 months in prison, as well as probation.
In 1991, he was again charged with harassment, but the case was withdrawn. In 1992, he was convicted of another harassment charge and sentenced to 4 to 8 months in prison.
He was arrested later in 1992 and again in 1993 in separate harassment cases. A judge convicted him in both cases in January 1995 and ordered Tobin to serve 6 to 12 months in prison.
There is no mention in court documents of Tobin being ordered to register as a sex offender. Pennsylvania’s Megan’s Law took effect on April 21, 1996.
Tobin is being held in the Curran-Fromhold Correctional Facility in lieu of $5,000 bail and is scheduled for a court hearing on May 9. ••
