HOWELL — The man who witnesses say they saw touching himself inappropriately during a screening of "The Emoji Movie" last week has turned himself into the police.

Detective Sgt. Christian Antunez of the Howell Police Department said in a statement on Thursday night that 43-year-old Abraham Y. Parnes, of Lakewood and Brooklyn,  had turned himself into police after he was identified by members of the public as the person committing the act last Friday.

At the time, a mother who was at the Xscape theaters with her children and other people reported to theater management seeing a man with his pants undone and his hand down his pants. The man was escorted from the building by management and the woman called police to report the incident after she returned home.

After turning himself into police, Antunez said Parnes said was charged with a disorderly person's offense of lewdness and released on a summons. Disorderly persons offenses are normally heard in Municipal Court and do not often result in jail time, though Antunez said Parnes could face up to six months in jail if convicted.

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Contact reporter Adam Hochron at 609-359-5326 or Adam.Hochron@townsquaremedia.com

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