SAGINAW TOWNSHIP (MI)
Church Militant
March 3, 2018
By Christine Niles, M.St. (Oxon.), J.D.
Police department “inundated” by calls from victims
A Michigan diocese is reeling after reports that a number of its active priests may be sex abusers.
Father Robert DeLand, judicial vicar and a judge on the marriage tribunal in Saginaw, was arrested Monday after a months-long undercover investigation revealed he was grooming young men for sexual abuse. One victim, a 17-year-old male, cooperated with police in the covert operation, which resulted in the arrest for sexual assault. DeLand is being charged with attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency. In another case in Tittabawassee Township involving a 21-year-old male victim, the priest is being charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries 15 years in prison.
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