Serial flasher in Torrey Pines gets 270 days in jail, $4,400 fine

SAN DIEGO – A Carmel Valley man who pleaded guilty to indecent exposure to a Torrey Pines girl walking home from school – plus three related charges – surrendered on Sept. 8 to begin his 270-day jail term.

People read victim impact statements at the Aug. 28 sentencing of Rene Cruz-Crupetillo, 28, by San Diego Superior Court Judge Matthew Brower.

However, he had to complete sex offender registration in court before he could start his jail term on Sept. 8.

Brower barred Cruz-Crupetillo from coming within 100 yards of all elementary, pre-K, junior high, and high schools in all of San Diego County under conditions of being a misdemeanor sex offender.

He was also fined $4,446. His projected release is Jan. 6, 2026, according to the sheriff’s department website, and he is currently in the central jail. His first payment is not due until Aug. 3, 2026.

Brower sentenced Cruz-Crupetillo to 180 days for indecent exposure and then added 90 days consecutively for his guilty pleas to committing a lewd act involving three other girls.

Cruz-Crupetillo was allowed to remain free on a supervised own recognizance release until Sept. 8, when he completed his formal registration as a Penal Code 290 sex offender by Judge Alana Robinson, court documents show.

Sex offender registration remains for years after a case has concluded, even for misdemeanors. Felony sex offender registration can last for decades.

Cruz-Crupetillo was arrested Nov. 6, 2024, by San Diego Police, and a press release said his conduct occurred over 10 years with 17 victims.

However, since only misdemeanors were charged, many of the alleged incidents could not be filed because of the statute of limitations. The City Attorney’s office filed charges involving 10 girls who were also walking home from Carmel Valley Middle School, Solana Pacific Elementary School, and Torrey Pines High School.

A Torrey Pines High School girl memorized the man’s approximate license plate number, and she and her parent reported it to police.

A girl walking home from Solana Pacific Elementary School took photos of the white sedan on May 29, where a man was exposing himself around 3 p.m., according to court records. She got the license plate number in the photos.

All 10 girls told police the man would park and leave a door open, displaying his genitals, and often would be masturbating. All of them fled at that point, and the man never had any physical contact with them.

San Diego Police issued a press release on Nov. 6 announcing the arrest, and it said they had been searching for a man who had exposed himself to 17 girls over the last 10 years.

However, the statute of limitations bars prosecution for offenses that occur more than two years ago. All of the alleged offenses in the 24-count complaint occurred in 2023 and 2024. After he pleaded guilty to four counts, 21 charges were dismissed.

All of them described the offender as older than he is, with a general age of 30 to 50, according to an arrest warrant declaration.

Most of the girls said the man appeared to be watching a video on his cell phone while he was masturbating.

After Cruz-Crupetillo was arrested, police searched his phone and determined his phone was “hitting off cell towers within the vicinity of the crime to an accuracy degree of roughly one block in most cases,” the police affidavit says.

Cruz-Crupetillo did not have a valid driver’s license, the affidavit says, because he was convicted of reckless driving in a DUI case from North County. Attorneys could not be reached for comment.