LOUISVILLE, Ky. — (WHAS11)-A Sullivan University professor was charged with indecent exposure after witnesses said he exposed himself to them while they were at Cherokee Park.
"It was obvious," Hayley Green, one of the witnesses, said. "We were hoping that it wasn't it, but it was definitely what was happening."
Green said she and a friend were in the creek at Big Rock when they noticed a man who appeared to be touching himself inappropriately. According to Green, there was a playground just yards away across the creek where several children were playing at the time.
"They're kids. They can't help themselves," she said. "They can't defend themselves. You can't victimize kids. It's disgusting. It's universally disgusting."
Green said when she and her friend tried approaching the man, who police identified as Paul Michael Hall, 64, he ran off with Green's friend following him.
"When she started chasing him, she was like, 'Hey, you can't be doing that here,'" she said. "And he was like, 'Yeah, leave me alone. Leave me alone.'"
Green said Hall led her friend towards a parked car, but when her friend asked if it was his car, he denied it and kept running. At some point, he fell and scraped his arm, but got up and ran away. Green's friend then returned to Green and the two drove around Cherokee Park looking for him before returning to the parked car.
"We staked it out for 30 minutes and them as we were giving up and leaving to go home, we saw him at the top of the hill again," she said.
Green and her friend then confronted Hall again, this time keeping him from driving off. She said another woman showed up and after learning what the two women were doing, helped block Hall's car in as they waited for police to show up.
"I don't know, I kind of blacked out," Green said. "I went up there and grabbed the door and I started punching him and I was trying to pull him out of the car."
Green recorded part of the confrontation and posted it to Facebook where it has been shared several hundred times.
Sullivan University announced Hall, who is listed on the school's website as a math professor, was suspended while officials attempt "to verify the allegations."
"Nothing is more important than the safety and well-being of our students, staff, faculty and the community at large, and behavior of the sort described on the social media post will never be tolerated by this university," Sullivan University wrote in a statement.
Make it easy to keep up-to-date with more stories like this. Download the WHAS11 News app now. For Apple or Android users.
Have a news tip? Email assign@whas11.com, visit our Facebook page or Twitter feed.