WOODLAND — The two state employees accused of taking part in an indecent-exposure incident at Community Park last month paired up again Friday, this time to plead not guilty to criminal charges in Yolo Superior Court.
Nicholas Robert Bowen, 61, and Wenyi Xu, 30, entered their pleas before Commissioner Janene Beronio, who assigned the case to Judge David Reed and set a pre-hearing conference for Sept. 4, giving attorneys in the case time to review what’s been described as a significant amount of discovery in the unusual case.
Xu’s lawyer, Richard Lansburgh, said multiple items of evidence — including computer and phone records — are still being analyzed.
“It’s going to be a paperwork nightmare,” he told Beronio.
Xu, accompanied by her husband, left the court building immediately after the arraignment hearing, while Bowen conferred with his attorney, Robert Blasier, who declined to comment about the case.
Lansburgh, meanwhile, said “it’s too soon to tell what occurred.”
“We still have not received a significant amount of discovery, which may shed light on the events that allegedly occurred in Davis,” Lansburgh said.
Davis police say Xu exposed herself to two young children riding their bikes through the park on the morning of July 10, while Bowen photographed the alleged act. They were arrested after a worker who witnessed the incident called police.
The pair face charges including conspiracy to commit a misdemeanor, lewd conduct, child annoyance and disorderly conduct.
Bowen, a resident of Grizzly Flats in El Dorado County, is employed as a branch manager for the California Department of Public Health. Xu, of Folsom, is a researcher for the state Department of Health Services.
Both remain free on bail while their case is pending.
— Reach Lauren Keene at lkeene@davisenterprise.net or 530-747-8048. Follow her on Twitter at @laurenkeene
