A 35-year-old Pontiac man on parole for a prior sex crime has admitted no contest to an aggravated indecent exposure charge after Bloomfield Township police say he exposed himself to a 14-year-old girl in the parking lot of one of the area’s busiest shopping centers.
On Monday, Kruze Detorrian Jelks entered a no-contest plea to a misdemeanor count of aggravated indecent exposure in connection with a February incident at Bloomfield Plaza, according to police and court records. The charge stems from allegations that a man seated in a blue Ford F-150 was masturbating with his genitals exposed, then drove away while continuing the behavior. Jelks is scheduled for sentencing on July 6 and faces up to two years on the charge if the court imposes the maximum penalty.
Bloomfield Township officers were called to Bloomfield Plaza at the southwest corner of Maple and Telegraph roads on Feb. 17 after a 14-year-old reported the exposure, according to a township police news release cited by ClickOnDetroit. Investigators said the teen told them the suspect was seated inside a blue Ford F-150, masturbating with his genitals visible. She alerted her older sister, who was inside a nearby business, and when the sister walked toward the pickup, police say the truck drove off while the conduct continued.
Detectives used plaza surveillance video and a partial license plate to narrow down the vehicle, officials said. They then tied the truck to Jelks. According to CBS Detroit, police said Jelks was already on parole for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and was wearing an electronic tether, which placed him at Bloomfield Plaza at the time of the reported incident. He was taken into custody on March 24 and arraigned on the indecent exposure charge.
At Jelks’s initial court appearance, a judge set bond at $75,000, according to court records. Bloomfield Township Police Sgt. Nick Soley told FOX 2 Detroit that the incident unfolded in a busy plaza, saying, “There are people all over there, for someone to blatantly do this in the open, he needs to be stopped,” underscoring officers’ concerns about public safety in the shopping center.
State Department of Corrections records list Jelks’s offender profile and show multiple convictions tied to a 2008 criminal sexual conduct case, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections. The department’s Offender Tracking Information System entry for MDOC number 711241 details earlier sentences and lists a discharge date of Feb. 27.
Legal context
Under Michigan law, aggravated indecent exposure, defined as exposing one’s genitals while fondling oneself, is a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in jail. Materials from the Michigan Legislature and related court guidance note that sex offender registration requirements and enhanced penalties can apply when a defendant has prior sex convictions or when a juvenile victim is involved.
What’s next
Jelks’s Monday no-contest plea means he is not formally admitting guilt but is accepting conviction on the aggravated indecent exposure charge, leaving the final decision on punishment to the judge. He is scheduled to return to court for sentencing on July 6 at 10 a.m., according to ClickOnDetroit. At that hearing, the court is expected to review any sentencing recommendations and Jelks’s prior record before imposing a sentence within the statutory range.
Bloomfield Township police have credited the combination of plaza surveillance footage, a partial license plate, and tether data for helping them identify the pickup and place Jelks at the shopping center on Feb. 17. With the plea now entered, the case moves to the sentencing phase in Oakland County district court.
