Butler sent to prison for sex with unconscious woman
BRANCH COUNTY — A Coldwater man will serve 2-15 years in prison after having sex with a friend of his ex-girlfriend when the woman was unconscious in November 2019.
Victor Butler, 31, pleaded no contest to second-degree criminal sexual conduct earlier this fall.
“This was unexpected," Prosecutor Zack Stempien said. "She was invited to a friend's house to hang out. She ended up being intoxicated for the first time, at which point she was taken advantage of.”
During his sentencing Dec. 12, Butler told 15th Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady he was sorry.
“I would like to apologize to anybody who my actions hurt. I made a big mistake that night. I should never, ever do anything like that.”
The victim was acquainted with Butler’s then-girlfriend. Invited over to meet him in November 2019 in Coldwater, she said after having a few drinks, she walked around and listened to music.
“I just felt kind of not there, dizzy, just kind of not being there,” the victim told the court.
Stempien said there police suspected the victim's drinks might have been drugged, but no proof was found.
Butler’s girlfriend said the victim was too drunk to drive. The victim got her phone to text for help “because I just felt like something was going to happen even though nothing did yet,” she testified at a preliminary exam.
The victim said she walked into a wall, passed out, then woke up nude in a cold shower. Later, she was in bed with Butler having sex. She reported the incident the next day.
The victim said she thought she heard Butler's girlfriend instructing him to have sex with the victim. The friend denied making the comment.
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“She certainly has been affected by this and will be for a long period of time. She did seek counseling,” Stempien said.
The victim did not appear at the sentencing. The prosecutor said she did consent to the plea bargain brokered by the prosecutor's office to reduce charges from first-degree criminal sexual conduct of an incapacitated person to second-degree criminal sexual conduct. The deal reduces the penalty from a life sentence to 2-15 years in prison.
— Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com. Follow him on Twitter: @DReidTDR.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Coldwater man faces 2-15 years for assaulting unconscious woman
