- Joshua Cory Nealy, 41, was sentenced to life in prison for exposing himself at Washington Square Mall in January 2023.
- Nealy's criminal history includes 166 arrests and 55 convictions, including seven felonies and being a registered sex offender.
- The court imposed the life sentence under Oregon law for defendants with multiple felony sex crime convictions.
PORTLAND, OREGON — Two months after an Oregon man was sentenced to 20 years for killing his wife during an LSD-induced “dreamlike state,” another Oregon case has ended with a major prison sentence. This time, a repeat offender with a criminal record going back to his teenage years has been sentenced to life in prison after exposing himself inside a Portland-area mall.
Joshua Cory Nealy, 41, received the life sentence on Friday. The punishment came after a January 2023 incident at Washington Square Mall, where prosecutors say he exposed himself to a female clothing store employee and a security officer.
Mall Employee Targeted
Nealy was already on parole when he entered a clothing store at Washington Square Mall. According to prosecutors, he wandered through the store and picked up several clothing items before going into a fitting room.
He then asked a female employee for help while he was naked inside the changing room. When she came to assist him, prosecutors say Nealy opened the door fully and exposed himself to her.
He also allegedly asked the woman to have sex and tried to get her to come into the fitting room. The employee quickly contacted a security officer for help.
Prosecutors say Nealy then exposed himself to the security officer as well before leaving the store with a stolen pair of sunglasses.
Arrested the Same Day
Officers with the Tigard Police Department arrested Nealy later that same day.
Although the public indecency charge was a misdemeanor, Nealy’s long criminal history changed the outcome of the case. Prosecutors said he had 166 arrests and 55 prior convictions, including seven felony convictions.
His record included attempted rape, robbery, assaults, failure to report as a sex offender, and other crimes. He was also a registered sex offender at the time of the mall incident.
Defense Cited Mental Health Concerns
Before sentencing, Nealy’s attorneys argued that he had a compromised mental state. They pointed to older records from a 2007 attempted rape conviction, where Nealy was reportedly using meth and had been awake for two days.
His lawyers also said he had shown signs of strange behavior in earlier public indecency cases. They claimed he may have been under the influence during the Washington Square Mall incident.
However, the court still moved forward with the life sentence.
Life Sentence Under Oregon Law
Washington County Circuit Judge Theodore Sims sentenced Nealy to life in prison without the possibility of parole.
The sentence was handed down under an Oregon law that requires life in prison for some defendants who have two prior felony sex crime convictions.
Court records also show Nealy still has two other pending cases in Washington County involving assault and attempted assault.
For prosecutors, the sentence ended years of repeated arrests and convictions tied to Nealy. For the victims in the mall case, it also brought a stronger punishment than a first-time misdemeanor offender would normally receive.
To view more cases involving repeat offenders, shocking public crimes, and criminals with long records, check out our video here:
