Man set to stand trial for indecent exposure

A Howell man was ordered to stand trial on charges he exposed his genitals to a computer technician trying to fix his slow Internet service.

The Comcast cable technician was the only prosecution witness to testify on Wednesday at Chris Philip Trikes' preliminary examination in Livingston County District Court. The hearing ended with Judge Carol Sue Reader ordering Trikes, 45, tried on a charge of indecent exposure by a sexually delinquent person. The charge carries a penalty ranging from one day to life in prison.

Trikes' criminal history includes a misdemeanor conviction for indecent exposure in 1999, for which he was subsequently sentenced to 10 days of community service, probation and counselling.

The technician testified that he went to Trikes' Pinckney Road home on Oct. 17, after Trikes complained his Internet service was too slow.

While at the defendant's home, the technician said, Trikes began discussing pornographic Web sites that he had visited online as well as a sexually explicit video that he said he found in a gas station garbage can. The technician said he began talking about his date later that evening "to ease the uncomfortableness" of the situation.

However, the witness said, Trikes then exposed his genitals, which made the technician extremely uncomfortable, so the technician quickly left the home and reported the incident to his supervisor, who called police.