Laura Colvin

Livingston Daily

A Brighton Township teen who admitted to first-degree criminal sexual conduct likely will be home before Christmas.

The teen, 16, was sentenced in Livingston County Juvenile Court Thursday following a description of the assaults from the prosecuting attorney and emotional victim impact statements from three teenage girls and their parents.

He was originally charged with 20 counts of criminal sexual conduct but reached a plea agreement with prosecutors.

The teen, who is not being named because he was charged in juvenile court, will spend 45 days at a youth facility in Monroe before he returns home for “intensive probation services,” which could include an outpatient sex offender rehabilitation program.

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Both Marilyn Bradford, an assistant county prosecutor, and the girls' families asked that the boy be placed in a residential treatment facility for sex offenders. But the boy's attorney said professional opinions recommended otherwise.

During the 2½-hour hearing, Bradford said residential placement was necessary because the boy is a sexual predator, community safety is at risk and the signed plea agreement stipulates residential treatment.

The three girls and their parents said they were disappointed and shocked at the outcome of the case.

Emotional testimony

Bradford said the attacks began in February 2016 when the boy, then 14, “sexually assaulted (a 12-year-old girl) behind a movie theater, in a ditch.”

Bradford said the boy began a relationship with the girl on social media, gaining her trust and “learning about vulnerabilities.”

Over the next 13 months, Bradford said, he assaulted two other girls, one 12 and the other 13, using the same tactics. In each instance of assault, she said, he used his size to physically dominate the girls and did not use a condom.

He arrived at the home of one victim to apologize for assaulting her three weeks earlier and “he raped her again,” Bradford said.

Another victim was home from school sick, “with vomit on her shirt” when she was assaulted, Bradford said.

He later returned to apologize when she was alone, banged on the glass door until she “broke down,” and opened the door. “She kept telling him no,” Bradford said. “He grabbed her by the face and started kissing her."

He then assaulted her again, Bradford said.

Prosecutors originally charged the boy with 13 counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, seven counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of home invasion, one count of gross indecency, all felonies; and one misdemeanor count of indecent exposure. He had also faced nine felony counts of possession of child sexually abusive material in connection to four other alleged victims.

In a deal worked out between his attorney and the prosecutor’s office, the teen pleaded guilty Oct. 6 to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, one count of accosting a minor for immoral purposes and four counts of possession of child sexually explicit material.

Semen recovered from one of the assaults and security camera photos of the boy coming and going from the victim’s house at the times the victim claimed he was there provided the necessary evidence for one criminal sexual conduct plea, Bradford said.

As a result of the first-degree criminal sexual conduct plea, the juvenile will be required to register as a sex offender for life.

All the victims and parents gave impact statements. The girls spoke tearfully about being bullied, about peers who accused them of “ruining” the boy’s life with the accusations, about virginity lost to rape, PTSD, fear of running into the boy in the community, harassment by his mother and more.

The boy remained very still in his chair during the hearing and appeared to look straight ahead at all times.

One of the girls said the boy’s mother knew what her son did to the first victim and let it happen again to other girls.

“She’s a terrible person,” the girl said, adding, “I know you’re laughing because I can hear you and I think it’s really childish.”

The plea agreement stipulated the boy become a ward of the state and go to a residential treatment facility for sex offenders, but the court is not obligated to comply with agreements between the prosecutor and defense attorney.

The boy's attorney, Edwin Literski, said he was "not trying to back out of the deal" but offered a view in stark contrast to Bradford.

Results of two separate sex offender risk assessments, he said, prompted professional recommendations against residential placement. The boy's probation officer also recommended against the placement.

Literski said the boy and his mother had been “very cooperative” about all requirements while the case was pending.

The boy spent the last two weeks since the plea deal was reached at a juvenile detention facility in Flint but was previously home on an electronic tether. A probation officer testified that 45 days of stabilization in a juvenile facility was recommended because the boy had experienced a difficult time in detention the past two weeks.

“He’s been a model with the safety plan,” Literski said. "He has not had one violation.”

He also said Bradford’s narrative of the assaults were “dramatically spun” and noted that, while he was not going to comment on the other charges, the boy pleaded guilty to only one count of criminal sexual conduct.

“He’d like to go home today,” Literski said. “The experts say there’s no reason he shouldn’t.”

Livingston County Juvenile Court Referee Chelsea Thomason presided over the hearing and said she did not find state wardship warranted.

The juvenile courts, she said, emphasize rehabilitation and the “least restrictive” approach when differences of opinion exist. Residential placement, she said, is used only as a last resort.

She also addressed the boy's mother.

“This isn’t just (the boy’s) problem,” she said. “It’s the parent’s problem as well. You need to help him take responsibility for what he’s done.”

A 45-day review hearing will be held later this year.

Livingston County Prosecutor William Vailliencourt said he may ask for a review of the sentence.

"Because this was a decision by the juvenile court referee, we have the ability to ask a judge to review the terms of what was imposed," he said. "We are considering that option."

Contact reporter Laura Colvin at 517-552-2848 or lcolvin@livingstondaily.com or follow her on Twitter: @LauraColvin22 https://twitter.com/LauraColvin22