Police: Okemos sex offender fondled kids in cemetery

MERIDIAN TWP. – An Okemos man and registered sex offender fondled two children at a local cemetery last week and then changed his appearance before his arrest, according to court documents.

Joshua David Harding, 34, is charged with two counts each of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency, both felonies, in connection with the April 1 assault on a 13-year-old boy and 10-year-old girl. Police say Harding attacked the children in a wooded area on the northern edge of East Lawn Memory Gardens at 2400 Bennett Road.

The children told police they were playing when they were approached by a man, according to testimony by Meridian Township Police Officer Christina Scaccia at a court hearing that led to charges against Harding.

The man told the children his mother had been buried in the cemetery three weeks before and that he was visiting her, according to Scaccia. He then picked up the children, swung them in the air "as though he was going to throw them in the river" and fondled them, Scaccia said.

"The two children, at that point, were able to run away, although, the suspect did say to them, according to their forensic interview, 'Stop, where are you going? We're not done yet,'" Scaccia said.

Following the assault, Harding shaved his goatee and mustache, Scaccia said. His facial hair was part of a police description after the assault. Harding is seen with a brown goatee and mustache in Michigan Department of Corrections and state Sex Offender Registry records.

Investigators verified that a woman had been buried recently at the cemetery. The investigation determined that one of her sons was a registered sex offender and matched the description given by the children. That led police to Harding, according to court documents. He was charged Saturday.

A preliminary hearing for Harding has been set for April 23 in 55th District Court in Mason. The hearing will determine if there is enough evidence for him to stand trial.

He has not retained an attorney, according to court records.

Harding was released from prison last September after serving more than two years for a 2011 fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction. He previously served eight years in prison for a 1999 assault with intent to commit sexual penetration conviction.