Franklin County’s public libraries are open to anyone who walks through the door — even Demetreist Gamble.

Police arrested Gamble, 23, in the teen section of the Main Library at 96 S. Grant Ave. in March after an employee reported seeing him with one hand on the keyboard of a computer and his other hand in his pants.

"It was all a misunderstanding," said Gamble, who’s now in jail on unrelated charges. "I mean, I had a rash on my leg. I was scratching my leg. You know what I mean? "

Police didn’t buy Gamble’s explanation, and neither did Judge H. William Pollitt Jr. Last month in Franklin County Municipal Court, Pollitt found the Columbus man guilty of public indecency and sentenced him to 13 days in the Franklin County jail.

Forrest Sorensen, security manager for the Columbus Metropolitan Library, said such episodes should serve as a reminder: Even though the library is a wonderful place, filled with fascinating materials and helpful people, patrons need to be vigilant.

"It’s important to remember it’s a public building," Sorensen said. "We make every effort to provide as safe an environment as we can for our customers."

Nevertheless, he said, problems do occur.

WBNS-TV (Channel 10) reviewed all police reports pertaining to sex- or indecencyrelated complaints in Franklin County libraries from Jan. 1, 2006, to April 15 of this year. Eighteen were found, including 11 in which police or witnesses said individuals exposed themselves.

Based on the reports, no community appears to be immune.

In the Metropolitan Library’s Reynoldsburg Branch, police were called to investigate a complaint that a man was using a library computer to solicit children via an Internet chat room. In the Gahanna Branch, library employees checking a report of suspicious activity in a restroom found a semenstained T-shirt. In the Dublin Branch, a library patron told police a man dropped his pants in front of her.

"I would not, under any circumstances, want my kids near anything like that at all," said Stephanie Gross, a Westerville mother of four who takes her children to the library at least twice a week. "That’s horrifying."

To help protect patrons such as Gross and her children, library officials have stepped up security. Many libraries have installed surveillance equipment.

Last month, a camera at the Old Worthington Library captured the arrest of Robert Scheib, 66, formerly a substitute school-bus driver. Worthington police detective Emily Mowry said Scheib was fondling himself in front of her and a mother and toddler nearby.

Scheib pleaded no contest to public indecency and was found guilty. He is to be sentenced next month.

At many libraries in Franklin County, police now make regular checks.

In Westerville, for example, officers patrol the Westerville Public Library daily, walking through the building section by section. They also have developed special codes that library employees can use to quickly steer police to problems.

Don Barlow, director of the Westerville library, said the police presence helps protect all patrons, especially the youngest ones.

"It does minimize those types of people that do come into the library," Barlow said. "It’s very important to us to provide a safe learning environment for kids."

Even still, problems crop up.

In October, a library worker alerted police to a man masturbating while reading a magazine in the adult nonfiction section. An officer who happened to be in the building arrested the man on a charge of public indecency.

Rochelle Young and Joel Chow of WBNS-10 TV contributed to this story.

tracy.townsend@10  tv.com