mlive.com
Updated Posted
SAGINAW, MI — A priest who is charged in a sex-assault scandal has been arrested again, according to his lawyer.
The Rev. Robert “Father Bob” DeLand Jr. was re-arrested on Thursday, April 5, and charged with multiple additional charges.
Court documents show that DeLand was charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury against one male victim and a count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct against another as well as manufacturing or distributing a controlled substance.
All three are felonies. The sex crimes carry up to 15 years in prison and the drug charge carries two years.
DeLand also faces a misdemeanor count of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
His attorney, Alan Crawford, said the charges are appalling and called the entire investigation a witch hunt.
“Furthermore, this is a case of entrapment,” Crawford said. “The police, of all people, sent a troubled high school student undercover, that was already on probation, and attempted to use this teenager to seduce Father DeLand.”
Crawford called DeLand a man of God who was serving his community and helping those in need and said that the alleged victims and their families saw a “payday” and were only concerned with rising from their current economic situation.
“The other alleged victim’s claims are baseless,” Crawford said. “This is an individual with a 0.27 (blood alcohol level) and is saying whatever he can to improve his financial situation.”
Since DeLand’s first arrest, Saginaw County Prosecutor John McColgan Jr. announced the formation of a special investigative team to coordinate and investigate allegations of abuse involving officials within the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.
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Embattled Saginaw priest Robert DeLand re-arrested, facing 4 more
charges
ABC 12
Posted: Thu 4:14 PM, Apr 05, 2018
Updated: Thu 5:32 PM, Apr 05, 2018
By ABC12 News Team
The Rev. Robert DeLand
SAGINAW (WJRT) (4/4/2018) – The Rev. Robert DeLand is back behind bars facing additional charges of sexual assault.
The new charges filed this week include second-degree criminal sexual conduct and furnishing alcohol to a minor.
The criminal sexual conduct charge is based on DeLand’s alleged behavior with a third victim. The other charges are based on allegations from the original two victims in the case.
He was arrested then and charged with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and gross indecency between males amid a wide-ranging investigation into possible sex abuse in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw.
A 17-year-old boy from Tittabawassee Township and a 22-year-old man from Saginaw Township allege that DeLand sexually assaulted them on multiple occasions.
DeLand was pastor of St. Agnes Parish in Freeland. The alleged sexual assaults took place in the rectory at St. Agnes and DeLand’s condominium on Mallard Cove in Saginaw Township.
Police arrested DeLand at the Mallard Cove residence after the 17-year-old allegedly caught him in the act while working as an undercover informant for police.
He was released on bond after arraignment on the initial charges in February and placed on a GPS tether, which allows authorities to track his movements.
Bishop Joseph Cistone, head of the diocese, placed DeLand on administrative leave and banned him from participating in any activity involving youth or presenting himself as a member of the clergy in public.
After the four new charges were filed this week, DeLand was brought back to the Saginaw County Jail. He remained in custody Thursday afternoon while awaiting his second arraignment, which hasn’t been scheduled.