Tamaqua Man Goes to State Prison; He Offered to Show a Nine-Year-Old Girl a Dog, Then Exposed Himself

— Jeff Ward, Lehigh Valley News Briefs

Blaine Alan Arner, 63, of Tamaqua will spend as long as 15 years in state prison for exposing himself to a child.

Here are just the facts, from the Office of the Lehigh County District Attorney in Allentown:

District Attorney Gavin P. Holihan announced a man has been sentenced to state prison in a child luring and indecent exposure case that occurred in Lynn Township.

Blaine Alan Arner, DOB 9/23/1961, of Tamaqua, pleaded guilty July 29, 2024 to charges of Luring a Child into a Motor Vehicle, a felony of the second degree; and four counts each of Indecent Exposure, a misdemeanor of the first degree.

Arner was ordered to serve 7 ½-15 years in prison after a hearing Nov. 7, 2024 before Judge James T. Anthony. Arner must also register for life as a sexually violent predator. Upon his release, Arner must also serve 15 years of probation.

At 4:40 p.m. on March 11, 2024, Pennsylvania State Police were called to the 7300 block of Lincoln Court for a report of an indecent exposure.

Troopers learned a man, later identified as Arner, had exposed himself to a 9-year-old girl who was walking her dogs with three other children.

The girl told police the man had stopped his truck on the side of the road on Adams Street and asked her if she wanted to see his dog. When she approached the truck, he opened the driver’s side front door of the truck and exposed himself and she ran away.

The case was investigated by Pennsylvania State Police and the West Penn Township Police and prosecuted by Senior Deputy District Attorney Sarah K. Heimbach.