FLINT (MI)
ABC 12 WJRT
August 6, 2018
By Rebecca Trylch
Saginaw – A former Catholic priest accused of sexually assaulting three young men appeared in court Monday for a series of legal motions.
Robert DeLand Junior’s attorney, Alan Crawford, was trying to get the cases dismissed using a variety of arguments.
“It’s our position in this matter that the District Court judge abused their discretion in binding this matter over. And the reason that they abused their discretion is because we’re dealing with an alleged victim in this matter who there’s questions as to his memory of what occurred on this particular night,” Crawford said.
Circuit Court Judge Darnell Jackson denied Crawford’s first motion to quash that specific charge.
There were a total of 14 motions between the defense and prosecution.
The Saginaw County Prosecutor’s Office asked Judge Jackson to join the cases moving forward.
Police in Tittabawassee Township and Saginaw Township investigated DeLand’s actions. The prosecutor decided to issues charges in four different cases, involving three young men.
One of the men was 21 when the alleged actions took place, the other two young men were teenagers.
“All considered collectively demonstrate a common single scheme or plan by the defendant to sexually assault young males,” said Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover. “All of these instances involve a certain level of trust in the defendant, based on him befriending his victims, and we have isolation, we have control, and we ultimately have the culmination of all of these with the sexual assaults that result.”
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