‘Deeply confused’: South Okanagan senior who exposed himself struggles to understand why

CONTENT ADVISORY

A 77-year-old Osoyoos man who exposed himself on Pioneer Walkway on a busy July afternoon told a BC judge he had no explanation for his behaviour.

“I am deeply sorry,” Robert Gunderson told the court. “I am deeply confused about why I did it. No one has been able to tell me why… at the time I had no comprehension of my actions.”

BC Provincial Court Judge Gregory Koturbash said the court was far too often the place where untreated mental illness collided with the criminal justice system.

Today, Oct. 9, the Penticton courthouse heard how Gunderson had been riding his bike wearing bike shorts when he stopped on a busy Sunday afternoon during the Canada Day weekend in 2024 and sat on a bench on the walkway.

He pulled his penis out of his bike shorts and held it in his hand.

A woman called the RCMP to say that she was walking with her seven-year-old daughter and had seen Gunderson with his genitals out.

Her husband approached Gunderson and took a photograph, at which point the 77-year-old got on his bike and rode off.

Police identified him from the photos, as an officer had had an incident with Gunderson a month earlier.

The 77-year-old had been given a warning after openly changing from his biking gear into regular clothes when a public washroom was mere steps away.

This time, no warning was issued, and Gunderson was instead charged with committing an indecent act in a public place.

He admitted to it and pleaded guilty.

Much of the court proceedings related to why a 77-year-old, with no prior history of similar behaviour, would do such a thing.

“He seems to be asking someone to tell him why he was exposing himself at the park,” Crown prosecutor Ann Lerch said, referring to a psychiatric report.

In the report, Gunderson had said, “he was a victim of his own darkness.”

“He never thought about other people being victimized,” the Crown said.

Since his arrest, Gunderson had been diagnosed with adjustment disorder, anxiety, depressed mood, and had become suicidal, and tried to take his own life three times. There was also the potential of a mild cognitive impairment.

The Crown said the way to protect the public was through rehabilitation and programming, and put forward an 18-month conditional sentence, whereby he would avoid jail or house arrest and instead undergo counselling and a sex offender treatment program.

Defence lawyer Michael Kennedy said since his client’s arrest, he’d undergone counselling and was in a better place. 

“He is very stressed, nonetheless, about today’s proceedings and the outcome that awaits him,” the lawyer said.

The defence lawyer described Gunderson as being humiliated by what had happened.

The court heard that Gunderson had run an appliance repair business for 30 years before retiring and had a long-term partner.

His lawyer asked for a conditional discharge, meaning that, provided he completed a probation period, he wouldn’t have a criminal record.

“He would like you to consider the fact that he has lived 77 years without violating the criminal law, and he would like you to consider that the level of humiliation led him to three suicide attempts and led him to a place where in his mind there is no possibility whatsoever of him repeating these offences and repeating any reason to reappear before the court,” the lawyer said.

Judge Koturbash said that Gunderson had, for almost eight decades, lived a pro-social life.

“You have worked, contributed, and remained an active part of the community. To find yourself standing in a criminal courtroom for the first time at this stage of your life must be very difficult, not only because of the stigma and stress that it carries, but because it is so at odds with the person you have been for the better part of eight decades,” Judge Koturbash said. “Age, however, does not make any of us immune from poor decisions, especially when mental health concerns, loss, or cognitive decline begin to affect judgment.”

Ultimately, the Judge granted a conditional discharge, but upped the time period lawyers were requesting, saying that 30 months of probation was more appropriate.