'Serial flasher' found guilty of felony

BAY MINETTE, Ala. (WALA) - A Baldwin County jury has convicted the man known as the "serial flasher" yet again. But this time, his punishment will be a lot harsher thanks to a new indecent exposure law in Alabama.

 Dana Stegall has already been convicted a number of times, but only served short jail terms in the county jail.

Under the new law, Stegall will spend real time in a state prison. The law, which went into effect in September, makes the crime a felony for anyone convicted three or more times.  

 It only took the jury two hours to find Stegall guilty.

 Assistant District Attorney Teresa Heinz said the verdict sends a message to other repeat offenders.

"That you can't repeat this behavior. The law was even changed because of him, because a victim was diligent enough to pursue this and say enough is enough. And that a misdemeanor punishment just was not sufficient enough for this kind of crime for someone with that kind of history," Heinz said.

Stegal was charged with exposing himself to two women outside a gas station in Robertsdale back in March.

Stegall admitted riding his bicycle to the store on the same night, and he said he may have spoken to the women, but he denied any criminal actions.

 Segal did not testify at his trial, but jurors listened to a taped interview he had with police.

On the tape Stegall talked about the security cameras inside and outside the building. He told the investigator, "You won't see me on it," referring to the surveillance video.

 Prosecutors argued that was because Stegall intentionally stayed out of the camera's view.

Stegall's lawyer argued there was never enough evidence to convict her client

Stegall will be sentenced November 29.

 Under the new law, he could spend anywhere from one to 10 years in prison.

Officer Dobson said he was later contacted by one of the victims at the gas station, who told him she recognized Stegall from a jail photo a friend had shown her.