A registered Level 3 sex offender who has two prior convictions and is facing allegations of open and gross lewdness in front of a local 12-year-old girl had his case continued in Gloucester District Court on Tuesday, pending his arraignment in Salem Superior Court.

Starr Lloyd III, 43, of the Heights at Cape Ann will be arraigned May 11, according to Carrie Kimball-Monahan, spokesperson for District Attorney Jonathan Blodgett's office, after being indicted on the charge before the Essex County grand jury in Salem Superior Court last week.

Until then, Lloyd — who was also charged in an alleged rape of a 16-year-old Manchester girl in 2009, only to have the DA's office fail to prosecute — remains free on the $3,000 bail granted at his initial hearing before Gloucester District Court Judge Joseph Jennings.

Rosalyn Stults of Salem, Lloyd's attorney, did not return a call seeking comment after his status hearing Tuesday in the Gloucester court. Under court procedures, the Gloucester District Court charges against Lloyd will be dropped in favor of the indictment in Salem Superior Court.

Gloucester police arrested Lloyd on March 14 after an interrogation at the Gloucester Police station led to charges of his exposing himself to a 12-year-old girl at his home.

Three hours later, Lloyd's father bailed him out, and he was back on the street — to the dismay of Gloucester police, who had to then notify the victim's mother.

The District Attorney's Office asked for $10,000 bail, Monahan said, with Jennings instead setting bail at $3,000. But the prosecutor did not push for a dangerousness hearing.

"I can't answer (to that)," Monahan said. "The prosecutors make decisions based on the evidence they have."

Lloyd's bail came with conditions. While out on bail, he was ordered not to have contact with the victim, and to have only supervised visits with anyone under the age of 18. If a violation is reported, he would head to jail for 60 days, she said.

In this case, she said, high bail was appropriate.

This the third case the Essex County District Attorney's office has handled involving Lloyd.

In 2009, Lloyd was charged with breaking into the Manchester home of a 16-year-old girl and raping her. As a result of that rape charge, the courts moved Lloyd, who has lived in Gloucester and Manchester, up from a Level 2 sex offender to a Level 3. The levels correspond to the likelihood of a person re-offending. Level 3 has the greatest likelihood.

The District Attorney's office, however, never prosecuted that case.

In two earlier convictions for open and gross lewdness, including one in Peabody in 2002, Lloyd was found guilty of exposing himself and masturbating in a manner where girls and women could see him.

Then, both in Peabody in 1999 and in Burlington in 2001, Lloyd was caught driving on a highway alongside women who could see him, fully exposed and masturbating as he drove, according to police reports.

Steven Fletcher may be contacted at 1-978-283-7000 x3455, or sfletcher@gloucestertimes.com. Follow him on Twitter at @stevengdt.