MI- Former Cedar Springs soccer coach asks for forgiveness, but judge denies request for more lenient sentence in Internet sex sting case

5-21-2009 Michigan: (Phase-I)

GRAND RAPIDS -- A 21-year-old former junior varsity boys soccer coach at Cedar Springs Schools today was sentenced to six months in jail and another six months on a tether after he was caught in an Internet sex predator sting.

____ also was ordered to perform 300 hours of community service, placed on five years of probation and must complete a sex offender treatment program. He must register as a sex offender.

"I'm asking for forgiveness," ____ said in a short statement to the court. "My actions were contrary to everything I've been taught."

Kent County Circuit Court Judge Mark Trusock denied the defense lawyer's request to sentence ____ under more lenient youth sentencing laws (HYTA) to "give him a second chance at life and spare him the scarlet letter of the sex offenders list."

Trusock did say that ____ was an asset to his family and friends and that court evaluations show he is a low risk for re-offense.

___ corresponded for two months on the Internet with someone he thought was a 14-year-old girl, and then showed up to have sex with her at a Grand Rapids Township home, police said.

He and 20 other men arrested in the sting actually were talking with undercover officers. The group Perverted Justice and the state Attorney General's Office helped on the sting.

Also Thursday, another suspect, ____, 35, of Macomb, pleaded guilty in Kent County Circuit Court to using a computer to commit child sexually abusive activity. ..News Source.. by Cassie Foss | The Grand Rapids Press