DETROIT — A spokesman says a Michigan judge wasn’t aware of a sex offender’s criminal background when he granted the man joint legal custody of a child born to a woman who said the man raped her when she was 12.

Michigan Supreme Court spokesman John Nevin told The Associated Press on Wednesday that Sanilac County Judge Gregory Ross didn’t know 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo had two criminal sexual conduct convictions, including one concerning the woman.

Nevin says the judge put the order on hold Tuesday after learning of Mirasolo’s criminal past.

The case started when the 21-year-old mother sought state assistance for her 8-year-old son.

Ross issued an order last month granting the woman sole physical custody and Mirasolo joint legal custody after DNA tests showed he was the child’s biological father. Mirasolo’s lawyer says Mirasolo never sought the order.