November 15, 2023
FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Contact: Prosecutor Tim Rutkowski, 989.269.9255
On Tuesday, November 14, 2023, a jury of 6 women and 6 men found Leandro Rios Jr., 44, of Port Austin guilty of Aggravated Indecent Exposure, following a one-day jury trial in the 52nd Circuit Court.
The charges arose from an incident on Saturday, January 8, 2022, in the Dollar Tree store located on North Van Dyke in Bad Axe, where Rios exposed his genitals and fondled himself in front of a store employee. The employee reported it to the police the following Monday. On February 18, 2022, Prosecutor Timothy Rutkowski charged Rios with Aggravated Indecent Exposure. A Preliminary Examination was held in the 73-B District Court on April 22, 2022, where Judge David Herrington found probable cause to bind the defendant over to the Circuit Court on the felony of Aggravated Indecent Exposure.
The jury heard testimony from five witnesses, two employees from the Dollar Tree, an employee from Speedy Q that provided video of one of the Defendant’s vehicles turning into the Dollar Tree’s parking lot and two Bad Axe police officers. The jury heard that the Defendant was a frequent customer to the store and the one employee knew him from there. While the employee was restocking some of the merchandise, she looked over at the defendant and saw that he had pulled his penis out and was fondling it. The jury deliberated for approximately an hour before returning a verdict of guilty as charged. Chief Assistant Prosecuting Attorney David J. Wallace tried the case. Detective/Sergeant Kevin Knoblock was the Officer in Charge.
Aggravated Indecent Exposure is a High Court Misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for January 29, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. before the Hon. Gerald M. Prill.
Prosecutor Rutkowski thanks the victim in the case for having the strength to report the crime as well Detective/Sergeant Knoblock for his investigation.
