MI- Predator suspects get no sympathy from judge

10-20-2008 Michigan: (Phase-I)

GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP -- If not for the nature of the charges against them, the tales of woe told by some defendants in 63rd District Judge Sara Smolenski's courtroom might have elicited some sympathy: relationships ruined, jobs lost, homes at risk.

But these defendants, nabbed in a child-predator sting styled after NBC's "To Catch a Predator" series, were unlikely to catch a break.

One after another, they asked Smolenski to lower their $50,000 bond. They got the same answer: no.

"If it turns out you're acquitted, then I've got to take a real significant look at how I make decisions on these things," the judge told a suspect.

But for now, she had an overriding concern: Children need to be protected from those who would allegedly prey on them.

-Hummm, if one can afford the bond, they are less of a risk to children in society? The judge is inconsistent (see below).

Of the 21 suspects arrested last month in a Grand Rapids Township sting, only nine have posted bond. All but one were in court Monday to adjourn or waive probable-cause hearings, which will be held, if necessary, later this month.

Assistant state attorney generals outlined plea offers -- generally, plead guilty to a maximum 20-year felony of using a computer to commit a crime, get a 20-year charge of child sexually abusive activity dismissed.

Some defendants, as well as some attorneys, felt frustrated, especially when Smolenski told the first defendants she would not budge on bond.

"Right now, I feel basically I'm already convicted," ______, 24, of Allegan, told the judge.

He said he suffers from mental disabilities.

Attorney Richard Zambon, representing another defendant, had this concern: The defendants did not actually victimize a child. They were chatting with investigators posing as children and were arrested by Kent County sheriff's deputies when they got to a set-up house where they allegedly expected to meet a 14-year-old.

-"Chatting with investigators" or chatting with Perverted Justice volunteers, not law enforcement? According to PJ owner, incriminnating chats took place -out of state (PJ pretending to be in Michigan), with their volunteers- in the month or so before the sting house was setup, and then the suspects were INVITED (by law enforcement) to come to the sting house.

"This was a made-up person, as the court knows," Zambon said.

Another attorney, Freeman Haehnel, said the jailed suspects posed no more risk than those who bonded out -- they just had less money. Social workers have checked backgrounds of those with kids.

Police said the defendants, including seven from Kent County, planned to meet a minor. Some traveled several hours to the set-up house.

While some who posted bond showed up with family and supporters, others who have been locked up since their mid-October arrests wondered about their futures.

If they plead guilty, most likely would face at least a year in jail or prison. If convicted at trial, some could be locked up for years, attorneys said.

_____, 46, who drove 2 1/2 hours from Kewadin only to be arrested, said he didn't know if he had a home to go back to. "I haven't been able to talk to my wife about that," he told the judge.

_____, 35, of Macomb, has been living with his sister and her 13-year-old son after his wife died five years ago. His three children are living with his mother-in-law.

Kelly Carter, an assistant attorney general, said the sister contacted her office and said ____ could not return to her home.

____ said his employer was holding his job for him. Others hoped to keep jobs, too, and said they had families to support.

Asked if he was employed, _____, 65, of Elkhart, Ind., said: "I was. I guess I still am." ..News Source.. by John Agar, The Grand Rapids Press