HUDSONVILLE, Mich. —
What’s the Scoop owner Chandler Bolhuis said there are new cameras in the ice cream shop following several incidents involving a man showing his privates to teenage employees on two separate occasions.
“Two Sundays, four weeks apart, he came in and was kind of creepy to the girls right from the start, when he ordered what his, what he was going to get, and then he's he would sit in the booth,” Bolhuis said. “Would stare at the girls when they would look back at him, he would look away. And then eventually would [...] show his genitals. And then would immediately leave.”
On June 24, Ottawa County Sheriff’s Office responded to a report from a 19-year-old employee who said Robert Linscott, who at the time was unknown, exposed his privates to the employee through the bottom of his shorts the previous day.
Bolhuis said after the initial incident, he got to work making it safer for employees.
“After the first time, I promptly got a security system, video security system in place because of it,” Bolhuis said. “Prior to that, I didn't really feel a need for it, because it's little, little old Hudsonville, and nothing wrong goes on here, but it does.”
A month later on July 28, officers were called again to What’s the Scoop, where Linscott exposed himself to employees again. This time, a boyfriend of one of the employees was able to get a photograph of Linscott before he fled.
A witness identified the man as Linscott, who was then taken into custody.
Bolhuis prides himself on the safety of his employees. He doesn’t let his young staff take the trash out at night because of its location on the property. He said he feels for his staff.
“One was very traumatized, a couple in the middle, and then one was just not very affected by it,” he said. “I apologized to them both the first time and the second time.”
Since 2007, officials said Linscott has been under investigation six times in Ottawa and Kent Counties, all related to him exposing himself. He was only convicted of one charge in 2021 of misdemeanor indecent exposure, where he spent 30 days in jail and was on probation for a year.
Linscott remains in Ottawa County Jail where he remains on a $100,000 cash bond.
Deputies are continuing to investigate these incidents. Anyone who has information or who may have been a witness or victim of a similar incident can contact the Sheriff's Office or Silent Observer at 1-877-88-SILENT (745368) or mosotips.com.