Excerpt from Sexual Predator Prosecution

Excerpt from Sexual Predator Prosecution

By Angela M. Conway

For most CSC charges there is no mandatory minimum sentence, but since the passing of the Michigan Sexual Predator Bill in 2006 there is a twenty-five year minimum sentence for First Degree CSC with a victim under thirteen years of age. Earlier this year, a 39 year-old Michigan resident, Bryan Brown, was convicted of First Degree CSC in Mount Clemens, Michigan and sentenced to life in prison under the new Michigan Sexual Predator laws. This case was investigated by Operation Predator, a nationwide Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) initiative that aims to protect children from sexual predators. Operation Predator was founded in 2003 and has since arrested 11,600 people suspected of engaging in predatory behavior such as CSC and child pornography. Operation Predator pursues sex predators relentlessly in an effort to protect children.

In Michigan it is not necessary for physical contact to occur for a sexual predator to be arrested and charged with a crime. It is illegal in Michigan for anyone to make sexual advances toward minors over the internet. In June of 2009, a Michigan man was arrested for pursuing young girls via the internet and charged with three counts of using a computer to accost a child for immoral purposes, a 20-year felony, and two counts of using a computer to disseminate sexually explicit matter to a minor, a 4-year felony. These laws demonstrate Michigan’s stance on sexual predators. In this case an alleged sexual predator is facing twenty-four years in prison although no physical contact was made with the victim.