Original Case Details An individual was charged with criminal sexual conduct in the first degree upon the accusation that he threatened an 11-year-old girl with a belt, forcing sexual penetration on the girl. The girl told her brother about this accusation, and they both went to the police. The defendant…
History of the Rape Shield Statute A group known as the Michigan Women’s Task Force on Rape was mostly responsible for the creation and adoption of Michigan’s Rape Shield Statute in 1974. The group paid close attention to how the previous rape laws discouraged women from reporting crimes. Particularly important…
Original Case Details As detailed in a previous blog, former Grand Traverse County Jail Administrator Todd Ritter is facing multiple allegations relating to inappropriate relationships with current and former female jail inmates. Investigations into Ritter uncovered explicit text messages and photographs involving female inmates of the Grand Traverse County Jail.…
Original Case Details A now-former Flint police officer is facing multiple charges for multiple child sex offenses now with two alleged victims. Justin McLeod is alleged to have molested a girl under the age of 13 and another young female whose age has not been publicly disclosed. McLeod faces nine…
Original Case Details A man from the Northern Michigan County of Roscommon was recently found guilty of multiple sex crimes that allege he held a woman against her will and forced her to clean his house and perform sex acts. The woman was actually herself arrested for stealing a vehicle,…
Original Case Details An Allegan County Judge is under fire for emails uncovered that show the judge communicating privately with a prosecutor about a case she presided over during a jury trial. Allegan Circuit Court Judge Margaret Zuzich-Bakker emailed Allegan County Prosecutor Myrene Koch as witnesses testified in front of…
Original Case Details 49-year-old Michael Clune is facing sex offense charges in three different northern Michigan counties after new charges were announced against him by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office. In Roscommon and Shiawassee Counties, Clune is accused of using the internet to meet underage boys for sex. It is…
Original Case Details A Michigan couple from the Huron County city of Sebewaing has pled guilty to federal charges related to allegations of possessing and distributing child pornography. 28-year-old Tyler Zimmerman appeared in the United States District Court in Bay City and pled guilty to a single count of distribution…
Original Case Details Michigan State University’s former President Lou Anna Simon was originally charged with four counts of lying to police. She was accused of lying to investigators about her knowledge about complaints involving former MSU sports medicine doctor Larry Nassar, who has since been convicted in multiple cases of…
Original Case Details A 17-year-old from Detroit is facing multiple criminal charges as an adult stemming from four different incidents that allege that he sexually assaulted multiple women and used a firearm to commit multiple crimes. Jaden Deangelo Jones is firstly accused of sexually assaulting a woman 41 years of…