A man has been arrested for exposing himself to a 15-year-old girl in the locker room of a Planet Fitness gym in Monroe, Georgia. Despite being aware that the man had a history of indecent exposure, Planet Fitness employees reportedly stated the man had a “right” to use the women’s facilities as per the gym’s gender self-identification policy.
JaKorbie Dixon, 25, was arrested on September 14 following a brief manhunt by Monroe Police. Dixon was charged with multiple counts of indecent exposure, all related to incidents at a local Planet Fitness gym. In addition to exposing himself to a 15-year-old girl, Dixon is also alleged to have exposed himself to a 19-year-old female gym employee.
According to the 15-year-old girl’s aunt, Alexis Dempsey-Peel, the teen had been standing near the showers in the women’s locker room when a man pulled back the curtain and stood in front of her, naked.
Dempsey-Peel says her niece had been “shocked and startled” and quickly started to leave the room. Dixon reportedly called out to the girl that she could stay and continued speaking to her as she hastily exited.
Peel said that she and the girl’s mother went to the gym the next day and spoke to the management about the incident.
Although staff told her that they were aware of several other complaints about the man and knew who he was, they insisted he had a right to use the women’s locker room. Staff also promised to warn him not to expose himself to other people.
In a Facebook post, Dempsey-Peel says that her sister left the gym and went immediately to the Monroe County Police Department to file a report. The investigating officer revealed that Dixon had registered at Planet Fitness under a false name.
After discovering his real name, Peel says that the police officer told them Dixon had a warrant out for his arrest in another county for the same crime. Records reviewed by Reduxx show that Dixon was booked into DeKalb County jail on September 14 on a charge of public indecency, but released on September 16.
In addition, police told the family that Dixon allegedly exposed himself to a 19-year-old female employee of the Monroe Planet Fitness on two separate occasions. He called the front desk in March of this year and asked for a particular employee to come to the women’s locker room. When she arrived, he was naked and attempted to speak to her, asking her to call in another employee, as well.
Weeks before the most recent incident, Dixon again exposed himself to the same female employee in the women’s locker room. She reported that he was also naked during that incident and that “his penis was fully erect.” Police have charged him with indecent exposure for both incidents.
Attorney Bart Benton announced on September 15 that his law firm, Benton & Benton, will be representing the 15-year-old victim’s family in a lawsuit against Planet Fitness.
“We are committed to holding Planet Fitness accountable for its actions,” Benton said. “Our early investigation has revealed that Planet Fitness knew and was on notice of this type of behavior from the perpetrator, but chose to ignore his prior conduct of exposing himself to females in the women’s locker room because he ‘identified’ as a female. This type of behavior is completely unacceptable, and we will fight for justice for our client and make sure that Planet Fitness takes steps to prevent this from happening again.”
Although Dixon’s LinkedIn profile lists him as a Sensor Operator in the US Air Force, military court records show that he received a Bad Conduct discharge in 2019. The designation came after Dixon was convicted in a court martial of breaking into the dorm room of a female cadet and threatening her.
The female cadet had a male partner in her room, against regulations, and Dixon used a master key card to enter her locked room while she and her male partner were sleeping. He left a note threatening to report her to their sergeant unless she sent the word “yes” to him in a group chat the next day to indicate that she was “willing to cooperate” with him.
In addition to his discharge, he was sentenced to a year in jail for the crime.
While Planet Fitness has not confirmed that Dixon identified himself to them as transgender, a “Member Gender identity Non-Discrimination Policy” on their website states: “All members, including transgender members, may use Planet Fitness locker room facilities and programs based on their self-reported gender identity; these facilities include bathrooms, showers, and all other facilities separated by sex.”
The policy continues: “Some members may feel uncomfortable with a transgender member using the same locker room facilities, bathrooms, showers, or other facilities/programs separated by sex. This discomfort is not a reason to deny access to the transgender member. Planet Fitness staff should work with members and employees to address this discomfort and to foster a climate of understanding consistent with the judgement-free character of Planet Fitness.“
The policy does acknowledge the possibility that some members might take advantage of these rules and falsely claim to identify as transgender merely to use the facilities of the opposite sex, and outlines a procedure in which a staff member “who has been trained on Planet Fitness policy and practices with regard to transgender members” may speak to a member who is suspected of lying and “in rare cases,” request documentation that supports the member’s stated gender identity.
On Facebook, Peel expressed her outrage that Planet Fitness had continued to allow Dixon to use the women’s facilities even after he had exposed himself to their employee, writing: “Planet Fitness was allowing and excusing a wanted sex offender because they wanted to respect his so called ‘rights.'”
She continued: “Planet Fitness invites children to work out for free in the summer as well as allows pedophiles to use the women’s bathroom… it’s like they are creating an environment for these perverts to come and just enjoy themselves. I canceled my membership, and so has my sister!”
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