Alleged Library Exhibitionist's Hearing Delayed

A pretrial hearing for Robert Bruce Engel, the man accused of masturbating in front of three girls inside the Rancho Santa Margarita Library, has been postponed.

Engel's case was supposed to be heard Monday, but was delayed until Aug. 2, 8:30 a.m., in the Harbor Justice Center.

Engel, 67, was charged with felony indecent exposure with prior convictions. According to the Orange County District Attorney's office, he pleaded guilty previously to three charges and was convicted on a fourth charge.

If convicted this time, the Mission Viejo resident faces a maximum three years in state prison.

He is free on $20,000 bond, according to court records.

According to the D.A., Engel sat on a bench inside the library across from three teenage girls on May 9, placed a newspaper across his lap and then masturbated underneath the newspaper.

The girls reported the incident to the librarian, but Engel left before deputies could arrive, authorities said. They searched the neighborhood but could not locate him.

On May 16—exactly one week later—authorities said Engel was again at the library when he was recognized by the librarian. Sheriff's deputies found him in the back of the library reading a newspaper. While he was detained, a 15-year-old girl who witnessed the incident a week earlier was brought to the library and identified him as the man she had seen.

According to police reports, Engel felt like he was having a cardiac event while being detained, and was taken to Mission Hospital by ambulance. He was then taken to Central Men's Jail in Santa Ana.