Bail will stay at $200K for man suspected of exposing himself

A Flathead County District Court judge last week nixed a request to lower bail for a man accused of exposing his genitals at the Kidsport Complex in Kalispell in late April.

Judge Robert Allison on July 19 denied a motion by David Scott Whitford’s defense attorney to modify the 26-year-old’s bail, which is set at $200,000. Whitford remains in the county jail awaiting an Aug. 3 hearing on a petition to revoke his 10-year suspended prison sentence for a 2020 criminal endangerment conviction.

Whitford came back to the attention of prosecutors after investigators with the Kalispell Police Department identified him as the man who exposed himself at the athletic complex on April 29. Witnesses told authorities that the man had hung around the youth fields through much of the day. He reportedly fled on bicycle, but police officials announced his arrest on May 4.

Whitford’s probation and parole officer deemed him a threat to the public in a violation report subsequently filed in district court.

“The conduct of Mr. Whitford has continued to place the youth of this community at risk and it is my opinion the only appropriate placement for him is the prison,” the report reads.

Whitford denied the allegations during an appearance before Allison in June.

It’s not the first time Whitford has run afoul of the conditions of his sentence. The 2020 conviction initially resulted in a three-year deferred sentence, according to court records. He saw that sentence revoked in 2022 upon admitting violating its conditions after emerging as a suspect in a rape investigation out of Missoula, court documents said. He received the suspended 10-year sentence as a result of those proceedings.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.