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Man Charged With Flashing Woman On Subway, In Incident Leading To Viral Post

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) -- A man has been arrested and charged with exposing himself to a woman on a Brooklyn subway train – in an incident that led to a viral social media post.

Reggie Frank, 44, of Brooklyn, was charged with public lewdness in the incident on the No. 3 train, near the Nevins Street station in downtown Brooklyn, earlier this month, police sources told CBS2.

Frank was also to be charged in a second incident on Tuesday at the Union Square station, where he allegedly exposed himself to another woman on a train. He was arrested a short time after that incident, sources told CBS2.

In the earlier incident in Brooklyn, Tiffany Jackson's post about the experience went viral on social media – along with a complaint that the train conductor seemed uninterested in the problem. She said she saw the man masturbating while looking at her and she discreetly snapped a few photos.

She told the story of the encounter on Instagram and Facebook, alongside the graphic photos.

"When I ran to the other conductor and told him what happened, he rolled his eyes, annoyed, and radioed dispatch," Jackson wrote. "At this point, jerk off guy got off the train and smiled at me as he walked out the station. The conductor grumbled and told me to just go upstairs and report the incident to the booth. I wasn't even half a step away before the conductor peeled off.

But there was no booth at the station exit where Jackson got off.

"When I went upstairs, there was no booth. Just jerk off man standing there, like he was waiting," Jackson wrote. "I hopped the turnstile and jumped on the first train I saw. Got off at 42nd and ran straight for my Dad."

Jackson wrote that she was less upset about the man and his lewd conduct than how the she said MTA handled the situation.

"They acted like I was more of a nuisance than trying to help me, and sent me right in the path of danger," she wrote.

A transit source said the conductor did radio the rail control center to report the incident. Also, while there is no booth on the Manhattan-bound side of the Nevins Street station, there is a callbox Jackson could have used.

Jackson said in a later post that the Metropolitan Transportation Authority ant the NYPD did contact her.

Suspect Frank has an extensive criminal record dating back to 2001, sources said.

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