Charged with Indecent Exposure or Aggravated Indecent Exposure in Metro-Detroit?

By Jeffrey Randa

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Indecent Exposure and Aggravated Indecent Exposure

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Published on Sep 12, 2024

In a previous article, we looked at how to beat an indecent exposure or aggravated indecent exposure case in Michigan. Over the last decade, there has been an increase in aggravated (felony), over simple (misdemeanor) indecent exposure charges. As noted, with proper legal representation, both jail and sex offender registration are highly unlikely.

Most often, a guy will pick up one of these charges because he’s blowing off some steam, rather than because of some underlying sexual deviancy problem. Here, in this article, we’ll begin by looking at situations where there actually is some kind of underlying issue to be addressed.

Although most IE cases DO NOT arise because of some kind of mental health issue, there are times when it can be a symptom of either an existing or potential problem. In all cases, it falls to the courts to figure out if that is or isn’t any kind of problem, and, if so, to take the appropriate remedial action. In that regard, the 2 of the biggest risks for problems are that the person has strong exhibitionist tendencies, or some kind of sexual deviancy issues, and needs help.

If a guy has exhibitionist tendencies, then he (or she, but it’s almost always a “he”) needs to get that under control so as not to reoffend. As much as the exhibitionist may enjoy flashing, most of those who are flashed consider themselves victimized, and absolutely do NOT enjoy the experience. It’s one thing for a guy to join a nudist colony, where nobody is offended by letting it all hang out, but it’s another to corner some young mom with kids in a quiet aisle at Target and freak her out by shaking his penis at her (and yes, we had cases just like that).

An even bigger concern is that such behavior will progress, and become predatory. This may be difficult for the guy who merely “acted out” to understand, because he has no such inclinations, but the court, in any and every IE case, wants to make sure this is NOT a potential problem. There is a kind of track that sexually assaultive or delinquent individuals often follow, and it usually starts with smaller things, like flashing, progresses to things like peeping, and then move further, into touching behaviors.

It is important for us to nip any such concerns or problems in the bud. Thus, in our office, we will usually refer our clients to one of several highly specialized professionals with whom we work with for a “sex offender” type evaluation. Obviously, the first hope is that such an evaluation shows the client not to be any kind risk for a repeat performance, or any kind of sexual predation.

However, if counseling turns out to be warranted for any reason, then we’ll want to get a plan for into place and get started on it right away. Most of the time, if counseling is warranted, it’s not because a guy is at risk to become a sexual predator, but rather because the underlying factors or life stressors that caused him to act out in the first place haven’t been satisfactorily resolved.

Most judges are going to send just about every guy convicted of aggravated indecent exposure for some kind of counseling, anyway. Not to make light of this with a play on words, but that’s considered a prophylactic measure. In other words, even if a guy doesn’t need any kind of specialized counseling, about the only way a judge is going to feel okay about NOT sending him to jail is to send him for some kind of counseling, instead.

As I pointed out in that other article linked at the beginning, we have a 100% success rate at keeping our clients out of jail in indecent exposure or aggravated indecent exposure cases. If I was reading this article, and someone else had written it, I would probably be wondering something like, “well, if you handle so many IE cases, and you say your clients don’t go to jail, maybe that means you only handle really easy ones…” That certainly brings up a relevant point here:

Over the years, we have handled many serious cases, some of which started out having been reported in the news, and we have done rather well in making sure those stories get lost in the shuffle and don’t get followed up. We know how to handle the most complicated of IE cases, including those where an outsider might think that, if the guy did what he’s accused of, he should be locked up yesterday.

When a situation like that arises, our priority is to deflect the public attention, and also to direct the court’s attention away from the “criminal” aspect of the case. We must counteract any inclination on the judge’s part to “punish” the client by shifting the focus to the underlying pathology (issue) that led to him act out in such a manner.

In some more serious cases, there is a much greater likelihood of a genuine underlying pathology to explain the person’s behavior. Here, it is not uncommon to find either a strong inclination toward exhibitionism, or some kind of other mental health situation, like depression or bipolar disorder.

If there is any kind of problem, then we have to not only make sure it’s properly diagnosed, but also guard against what is known as “over diagnosis.” There are a lot of reasons for this, not the least of which is the fact that there is money to be made on someone who comes in for treatment, but no money to be made from anyone who doesn’t.

As easy as it is to find a problem, it is also easy to “over-pathologize” an issue, as well.

The courts, for their part, won’t hesitate to impose any kind of recommended treatment in IE cases, so we have to be on guard for this, and my team and I certainly are. Fortunately, the professionals we use are honest, and we don’t have those kind of problems when they’re involved.

An interesting aspect to all of this is that most of the guys who are charged with IE have good jobs and are otherwise usually established, law-abiding citizens. Again, some of this may be unique to our client base, but the reader would probably be surprised at the level of education and/or employment of our typical indecent exposure client.

This tends to correlate to the stress level most of our clients feel after being arrested, because the plain fact is they almost always do have a lot to lose.

Over the years, we’ve had IE clients from just about every profession, although, by far, the most common trait is being employed in some kind of  “technical” capacity. In that regard, we’ve had a lot of men with engineering and other scientific-related backgrounds.

What we DON’T see are jobless or marginally employed guys with too much time on their hands.

Instead, and most often, our typical client is a fellow with a lot of obligations (i.e., too many hands on his time) and, not surprisingly a lot of pressure to go along with that.

This makes protecting our client’s record a critical consideration. In terms of what can be done to do that, it is most accurate to say that, “it depends.”

Whatever the final plea disposition winds up being in any case, it should always be the result of having done everything legally possible to minimize the impact to the client’s record (and it will be for anyone who hires our firm).

My team and I handle more than enough IE cases to honestly say that our practice has a genuine concentration in them (the State Bar prohibits lawyers from calling themselves “specialists”). We bring a combination of legal experience and a much deeper clinical understanding that is useful, both to prevent a client from being seen as having a problem that’s not there, and to make sure that instead of being hammered with punishment, the appropriate kind of help is afforded and directed when necessary.

The bottom line to any criminal case is that you hire a lawyer to make things better. If the reader, or someone important to the reader is facing an IE charge, do your homework and explore your options. If your case is pending anywhere in the Greater-Detroit area, make sure you give our office a ring.

All of our consultations are free, confidential, and done over the phone, right when you call. My team and I are very friendly people who will be glad to answer your questions and explain how things work. We can be reached Monday through Friday, from 8:30 a.m. until 5:00 p.m., at either 586-465-1980 or any of the numbers on our site or blog.