Police: Man caught in sexual act while facing children

GWINNETT COUNTY, Ga. — Police are praising a local mother who took action when her child noticed suspicious activity on a playground.
 
The mom told Channel 2's Nicole Carr he exposed himself to kids outside a Gwinnet County apartment complex.
 
Gwinnett police call the case alarming and relieving at the same time.
           
They say it's a classic example of kids knowing they should find an adult when someone is doing something wrong -- something that makes them feel uncomfortable.
 
"We live in crazy times. You got a lot of nutcases out here," neighbor Anthony Smith said.
 
"This is a very alarming type of call," Gwinnett County police Cpl. Deon Washington said.
 
Sunday evening a little girl playing in her Lawrenceville apartment complex playground ran to get her mom.
 
Across the parking lot, police said she'd spotted a man in a stairwell, performing a sex act on himself, and staring at the kids on the playground.
 
The mother, who called 911, told Channel 2 that man jumped the property fence.
 
"And she also witnessed the male in the stairwell," Washington said.
 
A short time later, Gwinnett police say they spotted Granger Martin running on the complex grounds and after talking with witnesses, they arrested him on the third floor of one of the apartment buildings.
 
"When the officer approached the male, his pants were down to his ankles and the male was heavily intoxicated and looked as though he was lost," Washington said.
 
Martin, who lives a short distance from the Landmark at Coventry Point complex told police a number of stories to explain why he was on the gated property.
 
"He stated that he was working out. That he was waiting on someone," Washington said.
 
"I can't even imagine. I can't even see how a parent could send their kids out here after that by their self," Smith said.
 
Smith was disgusted by the news.
 
"But my kids… you already know," Smith said. "Wouldn't be a thing. I'd black out."

Martin is in the Gwinnett County Jail facing a number of charges including child molestation, public indecency, loitering and prowling and consumption outside premises, a county ordinance for public intoxication.

Cox Media Group