Judge rescinds order giving joint custody to father accused of raping then-12-year-old mother
Christopher Mirasolo/Michigan Department of Corrections
A Michigan judge on Tuesday rescinded an order giving joint custody to a father accused of raping the boy’s mother when she was 12.
Judge Gregory Ross of Sanilac County said he wasn’t aware of 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo’s criminal history when he issued the order on Sept. 22, report the Associated Press, the Detroit News and MLive.com.
Ross said he believed Mirasolo and the mother had agreed to joint legal custody based on a judgment submitted to him by the county prosecutor’s office. The case was initiated after the mother sought state financial assistance for her son, now 8 years old.
Ross criticized the mother’s lawyer, Rebecca Kiessling, saying she had turned the case into a “media circus.”
The mother had alleged that Mirasolo forcibly raped her in 2008, while Mirasolo’s lawyer said there was no physical force, MLive.com reports. Mirasolo pleaded no contest to attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct, which is an attempted statutory rape charge. He was sentenced to a year in jail.
Mirasolo’s lawyer, Barbara Yockey, said Mirasolo and the girl had been in a three-month “romantic relationship.”
Mirasolo also pleaded no contest to third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in an unrelated sexual assault involving a minor in March 2010.
Sanilac County Prosecutor James Young told MLive.com that the situation was a “paternity case that went horribly wrong.” He said his office pursued the paternity case because of a miscommunication.
Related articles:
ABAJournal.com: “Judge was unaware he gave joint custody to father accused of raping the then-12-year-old mother”
ABAJournal.com: “Alleged rapist of 12-year-old girl is awarded joint custody of child who was conceived”
