HOLLAND, Mich. — The man charged with sexually assaulting a woman near Hope College last fall is headed to trial for multiple sex crimes.
Tristen Reyes, 31, faces 10 years in prison for assault with intent to commit sexual penetration. The Holland man also faces a fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct charge for allegedly groping a 21-year-old woman on Oct. 20, 2018.
Reyes approached two women outside a home on 14th Street near downtown Holland after they left Parrot’s Lounge Dive Bar before 2 a.m., the woman identified as the victim testified Wednesday at Reyes’ preliminary examination in Holland District Court.
“At that point I could tell that he pulled down his pants and was masturbating,” she said. “And we started to walk away, and then that’s when he jumped in front of me and assaulted me.”
The victim said Reyes grabbed her neck and breast before sticking a hand up her skirt and trying to shift her underwear. She said her friend pushed Reyes away from her.
“Did the defendant say anything to you while this was going on?” asked Jacob Jenison, assistant prosecuting attorney for Ottawa County.
“He only laughed,” the victim said.
This was not a consensual act, as forced coercion was used when Reyes grabbed the victim’s neck, Jenison said to Chief Judge Bradley Knoll before the exam concluded.
The victim was not injured after the incident, but says it affects her today “in so many ways.”
The case was moved to Ottawa County Circuit Court. Reyes is currently being held in Allegan County Jail on an indecent exposure conviction.
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