A Huron County jury found a 44-year-old Port Austin man guilty of aggravated indecent exposure following a one-day trial on Tuesday, November 14.
Leandro Rios Jr was convicted on charges stemming from a January 2022 incident at a Dollar Tree store in Bad Axe, when the man exposed himself and fondled his genitals in front of a store employee. The incident occurred on Saturday, January 8, 2022, with the employee reporting it to police the following Monday. Huron County Prosecutor Timothy Rutkowski charged Rios with aggravated indecent exposure on February 18, 2022.
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 Rios was a frequent customer to the store and that while an 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 about an hour before returning a guilty verdict, with the charge punishable by up to two years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for January 29, 2024 at 9:00 a.m. before Judge Gerald M. Prill.
