Weirdoes - Unlimited Access

TUCSON- Police are investigating a public access cable television program that showed a man exposing himself.

Police Officer John Sainz said he was watching television at home after completing his night shift when he came across the flasher, who appeared to be 15 to 18 years old.

Sam Behrend, executive director of Access Tucson, a nonprofit corporation that contracts with the city to operate public access TV, said the person who exposed himself during a show called "Random Access" is believed to be 20.

Behrend, who viewed the tape after Sainz filed a formal complaint, said the flasher "moved in front of the camera and lowered his pants and then moved away."

The exposure lasted "just a matter of a second or two," Behrend said.

Behrend described "Random Access" as a late-night entertainment talk show that is usually produced in Tucson. The tape reportedly was shot in California and took place while a punk rock band was dismantling its equipment, he said.

A detective will look into whether illegal activity occurred on the taped show, said Sgt. Judy Altieri of the Sex Offender Registration and Tracking Unit.

"Even if we feel the behavior was inappropriate, but not illegal by our standards, we would turn that over to the (Federal Communications Commission), so they could determine if it followed their guidelines," Altieri said.

According to a fact sheet from the FCC, federal law formerly allowed cable operators to ban "the use of a (public access) channel for programming which contained obscene material, sexually explicit conduct, indecency, nudity, or material soliciting or promoting unlawful conduct."

The U.S. Supreme Court, however, found that law unconstitutional.

Behrend said public access programs containing nudity usually air after midnight. Access Tucson does not screen such programs before broadcast, he said.