Court Watching: Father bound over on charge of CSC-2 with daughter in VBT

A father who is accused of rubbing his groin against his awakened teenage daughter as he slept in her bed has been bound over to circuit court for a Sept. 20 arraignment on the information.
The preliminary exam for the 41-year-old father was held before 34th District Court Judge David Parrott on Sept. 6, and there was just one witness: the 15-year-old daughter.
He is charged with criminal sexual conduct – second degree (relationship) the night of June 7 at his home on McBride Ave. in Van Buren Township.
The Independent is not printing the names of the people involved in an attempt to protect the daughter and son.
The teen testified she was sleeping in the bed at her father’s home at about midnight when her father came into the bedroom, laid very close to her, put his arm and leg around her, and started thrusting his body against her side.
She said she was wearing a tank top and underwear and was wrapped in a blanket.
She said she was able to escape from under his arm and leg and run into the bathroom next door. She said she cried a lot and then came back into the room to get her clothes, grab her cell phone, and get out of the house. She called her mother and then walked to the VBT police station nearby.
The father’s retained attorney, Michael Rataj, cross-examined the girl gently and she explained that her parents were divorced and had joint custody. Nothing like this had ever happened before, she said.
She said the room she was sleeping in is what used to be her father’s bedroom. Then after he remarried it was his and her stepmom’s bedroom before they moved their bedroom upstairs. The downstairs bedrooms were for her and her brother after that.
She said her father’s new wife was her best friend.
She testified when her father laid down next to her she asked, “What is going on? Is everything OK?” She said she thought he needed a hug. But he didn’t say anything and appeared to be asleep, she said.
When Rataj asked her in detail about how she was wrapped in a blanket and how her father didn’t grab any of her private parts, she started to cry and asked for a break.
After the break, she testified about how her mother had always told her if there was any problem at her father’s house, she should call her mother and walk to the police station.
So, she called her mother and walked to the police station about a mile from her father’s house. She said she walked into the police station and said, “My dad sexually assaulted me” to the officer on duty and then her mother walked in.
“I talked to her and then she talked separately with police,” the girl testified.
She said her father didn’t stir or say anything while she was leaving and was hugging the stuffed dog her boyfriend had given her.
The prosecutor asked for the case to be bound over to circuit court and Rataj agreed there was a question of fact involved that should go to circuit court. Judge Parrott ordered the case bound over.
The prosecutor said there is a no-contact order as part of the $50,000 personal recognizance bond and the father has called the school to get information on his daughter and son. She said while that was not exactly contact, she thought the judge should tell him not to do that.
“Denied,” Judge Parrott said, without further comment.
VBT Officer Jeff Stanton is the officer in charge of the case.
Jada Alexus Thompson
The preliminary exam of Jada Alexus Thompson, 17, was not held because the complaining witness failed to appear. Judge Parrott dismissed the charge without prejudice. Thompson was charged with assault with a dangerous weapon and assault and battery in VBT on Aug. 7. She was free after posting $5,000/10% bond and bond was to be returned. David Reams was the court-appointed attorney and VBT Det. Mike Long was the officer in charge of the case.
The preliminary exam had been set for Aug. 30, but the 14-year-old complaining witness didn’t have a ride to court. Judge Tina Brooks Green gave VBT another week to get their witness to court.
Luke Berry Ridner
A charge of aggravated stalking in Belleville was dismissed without prejudice against Luke Berry Ridner because the prosecutor did not have enough evidence to continue since the complaining witness didn’t wish to testify.
Steve Robinson was the retained defense attorney and the Belleville officer in charge of the case had retired.
Brandon Kareem-Stephen Abdullah
Baron Polk, Jr.
Brandon Kareem-Stephen Abdullah, 23, and Baron Polk, Jr., 25, are co-defendants and each charged with two counts of larceny from a motor vehicle in VBT on Aug. 25.
Both waived their preliminary exams and Judge Parrott bound them over to circuit court for arraignments on the information Sept. 20.
Abdullah was free after posting $20,000/10% bond. Daniel Bitar is his court-appointed attorney and Bitar also stood in for Polk’s court-appointed attorney Stephani Labelle before Judge Parrott.
Polk is free after posting bond of $10,000/10%. Judge Parrott advised Polk that he has two civil infractions from 2014 that need payment on his fines.
VBT Officer Jeff Stanton is officer in charge of both cases.
Alexzander Carson Wynder
Alexzander Carson Wynder, 23, had three cases before Judge Parrott with a bond of $10,000/10% set for each. Wynder was lodged in the Wayne County Jail and appeared in court via video.
His court-appointed attorney Olga Vermalinka said her client wished to waive preliminary exams on all three cases and Wynder agreed. Judge Parrott bound him over to circuit court on Sept. 13 on all three, noting the paperwork said he has yet to be fingerprinted. Judge Parrott said since Wynder is in jail it shouldn’t be a problem to fingerprint him.
Vermalinka said her client also has holds on other charges.
The charges against Wynder in 34th District Court are larceny from a motor vehicle and possessing stolen property from $200 to $1,000 in Belleville on May 6; larceny from a motor vehicle in VBT on May 6; and larceny from a building in VBT on July 23.
Joshua Kenneth Mashatt
Joshua Kenneth Mashatt, 28, agreed to plea guilty to possession of marijuana on June 1 in VBT and the charge of intent to distribute marijuana was dismissed. Judge Parrott accepted the plea and fined him $895. Mashatt had been free after posting $20,000/10% bond.