Sex offender accused of exposing himself to a child on Dog Beach

A 59-year-old registered sex offender accused of rubbing his unexposed genitals in front of a 5-year-old girl at Dog Beach in Del Mar was scheduled to be arraigned Thursday.

William Harris allegedly approached the child the afternoon of Feb. 24. He was taken into custody Tuesday at his home in the 2500 block of Unincornio Street in Carlsbad, said San Diego County sheriff’s Detective Chris Davis.

Harris was being held at the Vista Jail on suspicion of annoying or molesting a child with a prior offense, Davis said. He was scheduled to be arraigned early Thursday afternoon in a Vista courtroom, according to jail records.

Investigators identified Harris from video the victim’s father took using his iPhone. Davis said the victim’s father ran after Harris after he was spotted rubbing his unexposed genitals in front of the girl.

The father’s video depicted Harris making admissions to the incident before fleeing in his vehicle, Davis said, adding that the vehicle’s license plate was visible in the video, helping authorities identify Harris.

After the Feb. 24 incident, the victim said there had been at least two other instances in which an unknown man had exposed himself or made lewd gestures to her at the same location, Davis said.