ST. JOHNS, Mich. — A Clinton County jury on Friday found a DeWitt couple guilty of a combined 12 child abuse felonies, ending a six-week trial over years of mistreatment of children the pair took in through foster care and adoption.
Prosecutors from the Michigan Department of Attorney General argued that, going back to 2007, the couple adopted children to collect money and then abused them while calling it discipline. The case was tried in the 29th Circuit Court.
The wife, the main defendant, was convicted of five counts of first-degree child abuse and one count of first-degree child abuse in the presence of another child, each carrying a possible life sentence. The jury also found her guilty on two second-degree counts, which carry up to 10 years each, and three third-degree counts punishable by up to two years. Her 61-year-old husband was convicted of one count of second-degree child abuse.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said in a statement that children placed in state care are among the most vulnerable and that the verdict means no other children will suffer at the hands of the couple. She credited county investigators and her prosecutors for years of work on the case.
The case took a long road to trial. Charges were first brought in late 2021, then dropped by the county prosecutor in early 2023 for further investigation before the attorney general refiled them, and the couple was charged again in December 2023. When a judge bound them over for trial in September 2024, they faced 26 felony counts combined, along with a misdemeanor count of interfering with a crime report.
Both were taken to the Clinton County jail after the verdict. Sentencing in the 29th Circuit Court is set for Jan. 11.
Section: More Lansing MI crime news
Filed under: Lansing MI Crime News
