A recent string of cases involving internet predators and criminal sexual conduct is keeping police in Independence Township busy.
Currently, there are at least seven ongoing cases involving criminal sexual conduct and internet predators in or near Independence Township. Several of the cases involve serious criminal sexual conduct towards children.
‘I think some of it has to do with the fact people are more cognizant of it. We have a good reporting system through the schools, care houses and other avenues,? said Lt. Dale LaBair of the Oakland County Sheriff’s Department.
‘All these things are making the cases better and making it easy to report. The prosecution process is better.
‘There’s no new wave. I think we’re peeling some things back. Some of these cases are old. The attention now is because students are feeling less stigmatized to come forward about it,? added LaBair.
One of the most recent cases involves Russell Mark Fay, a 35-year-old Independence Township man arrested in Gaylord on five counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct. The female victim, now age 13 alleges the acts took place when she was six years old and living in Highland Township. The incident was reported Dec. 1.
Fay was arraigned in 51st District Court in Novi on Jan. 7 with a $50,000 bond.
In another case, Trevor Matthew Witt of Springfield Township faces charges on six counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct stemming from an incident at a party in Clarkston on Parview.
The alleged crimes involved two teenage girls, ages 14 and 15, from Linden, who went to the party in Clarkston. Alcohol provided by Witt is believed to be a factor.
‘These are statutory rape charges because they’re a violation of the statute, which states you can not have sex with anyone under 16,? said Sergeant Matt Baldes.
Witt was arraigned on Jan. 11 in 52-2 District Court by Judge Kelley Kostin. Bond was set at $20,000 per count, or a total of $120,000.
According Baldes, Witt has no prior convictions, but did have one prior contact reference, the same type of allegation.
Another 44-year-old Independence Township man was arrested on five counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct on Dec. 22. Allegedly, the man sexually assaulted the 9-year-old daughter of his live-in girlfriend on several occasions dating back to Jan. 1, 2005.
A 24-year-old illegal alien faces four counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct following his Jan. 6 arrest. The man was found parked in Independence Oaks with a 14-year-old Waterford girl on Jan. 5. Both the man and girl were in various states of dress.
All four counts, which are 15-year felonies, stem from previous acts committed in Waterford Township.
In early November, a 38-year-old man living with his girlfriend and her 6-year-old daughter was arrested and charged with criminal sexual conduct, second degree. Following an investigation, police alleged the man commited the acts against the girl while her mother was away at work. He was arraigned in 52-2 District Court on Nov. 18.
Two other cases involve suspected internet predators arrested in the township.
On Dec. 28, a Hazel Park man was arrested after soliciting who he thought was a 13-year-old girl for sex over the internet. The 28-year-old man was arrested at an location arranged with the ‘girl? who was actually a detective from the OCSO Computer Crimes Unit.
The man faces charges in 52-2 District Court of child sexually abusive activity, using a computer to commit a crime, malicious destruction of police property and driving on a restricted license.
Oakland County Sheriff’s deputies arrested another suspected internet predator on Nov. 17 after he allegedly arrived for what he believed to be a meeting with a 13-year-old girl. The ‘girl? was actually a detective.
The man, a paramedic for North Flight EMS out of Traverse City, was arraigned in 52-2 District Court on a three count warrant including: child sexually abusive activity, using a computer/internet to commit a crime and obscenity.
‘I think the Computer Crimes Unit is helpful, but I don’t think they’ll run out of work. When they got into it they discovered a whole new realm of crime,? said LaBair.
At least one professional in the field echoed LaBair’s sentiments.
‘I think it’s always been a problem. (The criminals) gravitate to positions of trust with parents to get access,? said Michael J. Witkowski, an associate professor and criminologist at the University of Detroit Mercy.
‘We’re getting more reports now because you have people reporting it. Like rape, which was less reported in the past, there’s no stigma to come forward. Now there are more resources put into detection programs detecting problems that have been there,? he added.
Witkowski also said he thinks media helps increase the fear, while he believes communities overall are safer then in the past.