Convicted sex offender charged with flashing two women near Fruitland

A convicted sex offender from Advance, Mo., was arrested after two women reported a flasher near Fruitland.

Steven C. Rendleman, 49, was charged with two counts of misdemeanor sexual misconduct and driving while suspended after Cape Girardeau County Sheriff's Department deputies confronted him about his conduct.

Deputies received two calls about a flasher within an hour and a half Tuesday afternoon, Lt. David James of the sheriff's department said. The first, at 12:36 p.m., reported that a man standing beside a purple van parked on County Road 203 was exposing his genitals to cars passing along Highway 25.

The second incident took place about 2 p.m., when another woman reported that as she slowed to see if a maroon van parked along U.S. 61 needed help, a man jumped out and unzipped his pants.

Rendleman at one time was a registered sex offender for rape convictions, a release from the sheriff's department said. He was exempted from registering when the Missouri Supreme Court ruled in 2006 that offenders convicted before 1995 did not have to register. The court on Tuesday reversed that ruling, citing a federal law that takes precedence over the state constitution.

Rendleman was being held Wednesday afternoon at the Cape Girardeau County Jail. Associate Circuit Judge Gary Kamp set a cash-only bond of $2,500 for his release.

rkeller@semissourian.com

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