More charges have been brought against a former township man accused of sexually abusing the mentally incapacitated man entrusted to his care.
Duane Emery Kuerbitz, 49, was originally charged with one count of criminal sexual conduct first degree and one charge of criminal sexual conduct third degree in the case. However, during a preliminary examination in front of 52-2 District Court Judge Joseph Fabrizio, Oakland County Assistant Prosecuting Attorney brought forth an additional charge of CSC I, as well as a charge of habitual offender, second offense.
According to police reports, on July 25, 2009, Brandon Township deputies responded to Allen and Seymour Lake roads on a welfare check and upon arrival, made contact with the 31-year-old victim, who said he’d been abused by Kuerbitz since Kuerbitz became his guardian in 2007. The most recent assault occurred two days prior.
Kuerbitz and the victim had been living in a home in the 400 block of W. Seymour Lake Road since 2008. The victim described crimes committed against him by Kuerbitz that included forced sexual acts including sodomy.
On March 24, after several months of investigation by police and prosecutors, Dr. Charles Clark, a board certified forensic psychologist, conducted a mental evaluation on the victim, who was determined to be not mentally capable of consenting to sex as indicated by Kuerbitz, and has mental retardation as it is legally defined.
Kuerbitz was arrested March 31 at his residence in Bay City by the Fugitive Apprehension Team. The Michigan Sex Offender Registry records show that Kuerbitz has two convictions for criminal sexual conduct first degree (person under 13) from 1991 in Waterford.
Oakland County Sheriff’s Office Detective Dale Brown said the victim has qualified for special consideration for his testimony and on Tuesday, the courtroom was closed during his testimony and he was separated by a partition from Kuerbitz.
Fabrizio bound the case over to Oakland County Sixth Circuit Court, where Kuerbitz will be arraigned on all four charges at 1:30 p.m., May 11, in front of Judge Rae Lee Chabot.