WEST CHESTER — Prosecutors in Chester County have asked the judge overseeing former La Salle University and 76er basketball star Douglas M. Overton Jr.’s case on criminal allegations that he exposed himself to patrons at the swimming pool at the apartment complex where he once lived to be able to use evidence of his prior conviction on similar charges when his case comes to trial. In a motion asking Judge Sarah Black to allow them to use evidence of “prior bad acts,” Deputy District Attorney Sarah Johnson and Assistant District Attorney Peter Johnsen said that allowing a jury to see that Overton had once formally acknowledged that exposing his genitals to others in public would cause those people to feel uncomfortable, or worse. In 2017, Overton — who at the time was men’s basketball coach at Lincoln University in southern Chester County — pleaded guilty to three counts of disorderly conduct stemming from an incident in which he acknowledged exposing himself to people who were walking on a public trail in Montgomery County. He was sentenced to probation and ordered to undergo a psycho-sexual evaluation and complete any treatment recommendation, according to press reports at the time. “The 2017 guilty plea/conviction is an express acknowledgement, by (Overton), that he knows the act of exposing one’s penis in public, in the manner in which he exposed it, is one that would cause other to feel offended and/or alarmed and/or annoyed,” the prosecutors wrote in their motion. The filing occurred on Friday, and Black has not ruled on it. Overton is scheduled to go to trial on the charges against him next month. The case in Chester County stems from an incident that occurred at the Beckon Collective, an apartment complex located on South Matlack Street in West Goshen that was not reported at the time. According to an arrest affidavit and criminal complaint, on June 13, 2023,  Officer Braden Walsh responded to the complex to investigate the complaints about a resident exposing his genitals at the swimming pool two days prior. According to the prosecution motion, the suspect, later identified as Overton, arrived at the pool by himself around noon on June 11, 2023, when there were a number of other people making use of the pool, including children. The two said they would offer surveillance video, photos and witness testimony about what occurred next at trial. While reclining on a lounge chair by the pool, Overton “intentionally situated his bathing suit to expose his penis so that it remained not only visible, but overtly conspicuous to everyone else by the pool for a prolonged period of time,” they wrote. In addition, while he was seated by the pool, Overton grasped his penis and began stroking it. He then got up, went into the pool, returned to his chair, sat down, and again opened his suit so that his penis was exposed and once more began stroking it. Walsh said he spoke with the complex manager, Helen Bish, about what occurred, and that she said she recognized Overton from complaints coming from several other residents about “inappropriate comments and advances he has made.” He spoke with several witnesses who said they were caught off guard by the behavior Overton allegedly engaged in and said it was unacceptable because there were kids present. Overton, 55, was charged with open lewdness and indecent exposure on June 18, 2023, and released on bail. His current address is unclear. In most cases, juries hearing criminal charges are not permitted to be told about past crimes that a defendant had committed. However, there are exceptions that are allowed, and Johnson and Johnsen hope to convince Black that this is one of them — that his previous conviction shows he was aware how such actions could be perceived. In the Montgomery County case, Overton “admitted on the record that his behavior was offensive and obscene, it was obscene behavior and that other people that were there in the park that day enjoying a public area with their families, that they observed that and it was offensive and obscene to them,” county Assistant District Attorney Brianna Ringwood said at the time. “He admitted to engaging in behavior that was obscene and offensive.” In an affidavit of probable cause, Lower Merion police alleged officers received several calls shortly after noon April 30, 2017, that a man was exposing himself on the Cynwyd Heritage Trail at a section located just off Levering Mill Road in the Bala Cynwyd section of Lower Merion Township. Callers told police the man appeared to be touching himself around his genitals or urinating off to the side of the trail, according to court documents. Former Lincoln University men’s basketball coach Doug Overton Jr. One witness, a female, told police when the man walked past her his penis was outside of his pants and that he was looking in her direction as he walked his dog, according to a criminal complaint filed by Lower Merion Police Officer Michael Rigby. The woman told police the man was seen walking on the trail with his penis exposed. A male witness told police the subject was walking toward him with his penis fully out of his pants. The witness described the man as walking “calmly and deliberately” and said he seemed to be aware that he was exposing himself but “was content with the situation,” according to the arrest affidavit. A second woman told police she exchanged pleasantries with the man on the trail and then noticed “his penis appeared to be hanging out of his pants,” police alleged. The woman said once she observed it she didn’t want to look again so she walked away, court papers indicate. “All three witnesses told the officer that they were alarmed and offended by viewing the male’s genitals being exposed in such an open and public manner,” Rigby alleged. Patrol officers were able to locate the subject on the trail. The man was later identified as Overton, police reported. Three separate witnesses positively identified Overton as the man they saw on the trail exposing himself, police alleged in the criminal complaint. Overton was a standout player for La Salle who played 11 seasons in the NBA for eight teams, including a stint with the Sixers. He played 499 games and scored 2,253 points. He was a second-round pick of the Detroit Pistons in 1991. After his playing career ended, Overton went into coaching, serving as an assistant at Saint Joseph’s, as well as the NBA’s New Jersey Nets. In 2016, he was named the head coach at Lincoln. He left the school in 2020, citing “personal reasons.” Overton’s attorney, Ronald Greenblatt of Philadelphia, could not immediately be reached for comment Monday. To contact staff writer Michael P. Rellahan call 610-696-1544.