A Monroe County man was arrested following what police described as “disturbing events” Friday in Columbia. 

Daniel C. Morgan, 50, of Waterloo, has been charged with criminal sexual abuse and public indecency. Both are Class 4 felonies. 

These charges stem from an investigation conducted Friday by Columbia police. 

Columbia Police Chief Jason Donjon said his department’s dispatch center received numerous calls that afternoon that Morgan was driving throughout Columbia in a white Nissan SUV “acting suspicious and exposing himself to several different groups of juveniles.”

The locations reported were Bolm Schuhkraft Park, the Columbia Center parking lot near Tequila Mexican Restaurant, and Admiral Parkway near Veterans Parkway. Morgan was located a short time later at Waterloo Walmart and subsequently taken into custody. 

The public indecency charge is heightened due to Morgan having been convicted of that offense twice previously in North Carolina.

A detention hearing for Morgan took place Monday afternoon at the Monroe County Courthouse.

During the hearing, Monroe County Resident Judge Chris Hitzemann denied pretrial release for Morgan, stating Morgan imposes a risk to the community.

Hitzemann also cited particulars of the charges, which allege Morgan parked next to a 16-year-old female in the Columbia High School parking lot then parked on the other side of the victim’s vehicle, followed her to Tequila Mexican Restaurant and to Bolm-Schukraft Park, where he was confronted by the mother of the victim and fled.

Hitzemann also noted five of the victims in the case are age 16 or younger.

Morgan will remain in custody at Monroe County Jail.

A preliminary hearing is set for 10:30 a.m. April 3 at the Monroe County Courthouse.

“We would like to thank everyone who assisted with this investigation to include those who called the Columbia Police Department reference these disturbing events,” Donjon said in a press release. “We would also like to acknowledge and thank CPD dispatchers, officers, and detectives along with the assistance received from the Waterloo Police Department, the Monroe County Sheriff’s Department and members of the Auto Theft Task Force (including an officer from the CPD who is attached to the task force and assisted with this arrest). A special thank you goes out to Monroe County State’s Attorney Ryan Webb, who consistently demonstrates unwavering commitment to justice in our community.”