SIOUX FALLS, SOUTH DAKOTA - They tried to fight it, but two Sioux Falls men must register as sex offenders after taking part in a sex act in a city park.This afternoon, a jury found 62-year-old Ron Miklos and 58-year-old Dick Moss guilty of indecent exposure.
Miklos and Moss admit they performed oral sex in front of two undercover officers in Elmwood Park in February. The officers were there because that park has a reputation of men having sex in public.
The jury deliberated for just an hour. But the defense brought an interesting argument to the trial.
After listening to Ron Miklos and Dick Moss's case, the jury agreed with the prosecution...
“When you want to take your kids to Elmwood Park or Sherman Park, nobody should have to worry about whether they're going to end up seeing two people having sex under a bridge or behind some bushes,” says deputy state’s attorney Paul Bengford.
But defense lawyers argue the case wasn't that simple. And to be guilty of indecent exposure, the men would have to believe they were "offending" someone.
But only two people witnessed it: the undercover officers who arrested them. And the defense argues those officers encouraged the men to do it with hand gestures and telling them they were "looking for a show" and that they'd "like to watch."
Miklos and Moss both say they thought it was obvious the only people watching, wanted to see it, so there are no victims. But, the jury decided victims go beyond eyewitnesses.
“I have two young daughters myself,” Bengford says. “And I take them to the park frequently, and that's the last thing on my mind I want to be concerned about. So in this case, the community is the victim.”
The defense lawyers would not comment, but told me off-camera cases like this open up the larger issue of whether people guilty of crimes like this should be listed on the sex offender website next to rapists and child molesters.
Miklos and Moss will be sentenced August 21st. They face up to one year in jail.
from KELO TV
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