Indecent exposure case dropped against mentally ill man

NASSAU- Prosecutors have dropped an indecent exposure case against a mentally ill man who spent eight months in prison on remand.

Police arrested Joel Griffin, 29, on March 24 after he exposed his penis to a schoolgirl.

The incident happened around 9am at Madeira Street in Palmdale.

The sixth grade student of Palmdale Primary School was walking to school when Griffin followed her and exposed himself.

Motorists who saw Griffin’s disturbing actions chased him and called police.

Officers arrested Griffin a short time later.

During an interview later that day, he told investigators that he was attracted to the size of the child’s butt. Griffin said because his “hip was already showing he thought it would be sexy for his penis to show as well.”

He pleaded guilty to the indecent exposure charge at his arraignment on March 25.

He accepted a summary of the evidence that the prosecutor would have presented had the case gone to trial on April 1.

However, Magistrate Ferguson-Pratt ordered the mental evaluation after Griffin said that he had been to Sandilands Rehabilitation Centre (SRC) before.

Due to a halt on new admissions at SRC, the Magistrate had to send Griffin to prison. Staff from SRC visited him at the prison to carry out the mental tests.

Subsequent reports from SRC made Griffin’s guilty plea invalid, as doctors determined he was unfit to plead to the charge.

On December 6, the prosecutor withdrew the charge since Griffin’s time on remand exceeded the maximum penalty for the offense.

As a result, he was released from custody. Since the matter was withdrawn, the incident will not appear on Griffin’s criminal record.

At a court appearance last week, Griffin claimed he had already completed his medication. He said he wanted to be released in time for Christmas and he looked forward to eating fruitcake over the holiday.