World

The 60-year-old son of sex research pioneer Dr. William H. Masters has admitted masturbating in Central Park.

William H. Masters III pleaded guilty Monday to misdemeanour public lewdness. He was arrested in May after a New York police officer reported seeing him expose his genitals and masturbate.

Defence lawyer Irwin Rochman tells the New York Post that his client has been in counselling.

Masters avoids jail time. But if the Southampton resident gets arrested again he'll face up to 90 days in jail.

Masters also is charged with exposing himself to a sheriff's deputy and another woman on a Michigan river in September. That case is pending.

Masters' father was part of the Masters and Johnson sex research team. He and Virginia Johnson conducted interviews and observed sex acts. They wrote the 1966 bestseller "Human Sexual Response."