The entrance to Whitemarsh Memorial Cemetery. (Credit: Google Street View)
A fifth-grade teacher with the Haverford Township School District is facing charges after police alleged he was caught masturbating in public at Whitemarsh Memorial Park in Ambler, then again at Lenape Park in Sellersville while on bail.
As previously reported by Wissahickon Now, Matthew Paul Gagat, 47, of the first block of Sterling Drive in Horsham, was charged on July 8 with one count of open lewdness for allegedly masturbating in Lenape Park. Following that report, this news organization learned that Gagat — a fifth grade teacher at Lynnewood Elementary School — had been charged with similar crimes in March, when Horsham Township Police Department responded to two witnesses who alleged they saw a man masturbating in the cemetery.
In the criminal complaint, Horsham Police said they were dispatched to Whitemarsh Cemetery along the 1100 block of Limekiln Pike at 5:55 p.m. on March 3 for a report of a man exposing himself. Investigators spoke with a pair of witnesses who provided a statement, according to the report.
“At first, they believed the male was urinating, but then noticed his actions didn’t match up,” reads a portion of the police documents. “They stated he was masturbating with his pants open.”
Police said that the couple walked in the opposite direction from the man but looked back and saw the man walking away from a headstone in their direction. The couple said the man was “helicoptering his penis” as they walked away, police reported.
The dog-walking couple told police they returned to their vehicle and witnessed the same man emerging from the same area. Police reported that the man was then “actively masturbating behind a female walker,” as she was looking at her phone.
Gagat denied the allegations, according to police, stating that he was “just urinating by a tree and walking through the cemetery to clear his mind.”
As a result of the investigation, police charged Gagat with two counts of indecent exposure, two counts of open lewdness, two counts of disorderly conduct of obscene language or gestures, and two counts of disorderly conduct via hazardous or physical offense. Court records show Gagat was arraigned on April 18, at which time bail was set at $10,000 unsecured.
He has since waived both his preliminary hearing and formal arraignment and is currently awaiting proceedings at the Montgomery County Court of Common Pleas.
While out on bail, police allege that Gagat was caught a second time masturbating in public, stemming from an incident in Sellersville Borough on June 27.
In that case, the Perkasie Borough Police Department — who provides police services to Sellersville — was called to Lenape Park around 9:02 p.m. on June 27 for a report of “an individual who appeared to be touching himself.” A woman said she was near a Scout cabin in the park system when she saw a man across the creek, on the Sellersville Armory side, who “appeared to be touching himself,” according to the criminal complaint.
Investigators said they made contact with Gagat at the park, as he matched the description provided by the woman, at which time Gagat denied that he was masturbating. The woman later provided a statement to police alleging Gagat was masturbating as he "stared at her from across the river," according to the criminal complaint.
Charges in that case were filed via summons on July 8, and his first court action in that case will be a preliminary hearing on July 23 at 1 p.m. in front of Magisterial District Judge Regina Armitage.
Court documents show Gagat is being represented by the Doylestown-based Ellis B. Klein Esq. firm. Attorneys did not respond to Wissahickon Now's request for comment.
It's unclear if the school district was aware of the arrests, though Gagat still appears in the district's staff directory as of the time of publication. Officials from Haverford Township School District did not respond to our request for comment.
All suspects and defendants are innocent until proven guilty. This story was compiled using public court records.
