Prosecutor fighting parole of man convicted of second-degree criminal sexual assault
Branch County Prosecutor Zack Stempien is appealing the parole board's decision to release a 37-year-old man who pleaded no contest to second-degree criminal sexual assault.
The board's Oct. 2 decision would release Adan Rodriguez Nov. 30. He was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison last October.
Stempien's emergency request cites abuse of discretion by the board in a 29-page brief with the Branch County Circuit Court.
Until this summer, Rodriguez continued denying any assaults as he sat in jail for over a year before his no-contest plea. He received credit for 377 days in jail when he was sentenced.
On June 14, the Parole Board had denied Rodriguez parole. “The Parole Board lacks reasonable assurance that the prisoner will not become a menace to society or to the public safety and denial of parole is warranted” with no reconsideration until Oct. 31, 2024, the members ruled.
Rodriguez refused a Sex Offender Risk Assessment in February. He agreed to take the assessment on July 28.
Rodriguez admitted he molested the victim “a couple of times” while drunk. The assessment labeled Rodriguez “a moderate risk” for re-offending.
The parole board two months later agreed to the parole, citing Rodriguez’s now “accepts responsibility” and his lack of prior felony charges.
Stempien pointed out that Department of Corrections records showed Rodriguez did not complete any sex offender treatment or the Michigan Sex Abuse Prevention Program.
The prosecutor wrote the parole board “whimsically changing its position” on Rodriguez as “a menace to society to a position of finding reasonable assurance that (Rodriguez) will not become a menace to society or to the public” is an abuse of discretion.
In November 2021, a friend of the 11-year-old victim told her mother about the repeated “rape” of her friend, police reports stated.
The mother called a school counselor and Coldwater Police investigated.
The pre-teen gave details of three years of sexual assaults by Rodriguez during interviews.
An examination by sexual assault nurse examiners at ProMedica Coldwater Regional Hospital found an indication of assaults, police reports stated.
Prior story Coldwater man to serve 2 years prison for assaulting child
Stempien prepared the first-degree CSC life felony case for trial.
When DNA evidence tested by the state lab proved too small for testing or inconclusive, Stempien agreed to reduce charges to a 15-year felony with a minimum of two years in prison.
With no DNA and little other evidence to support the girl’s testimony, Stempien offered the plea bargain because “there is not enough for us to have a solid foolproof case.”
The detailed brief cites findings of the Sex Offender Risk Assessment, which Stempien said clearly shows the dangers of releasing Rodriguez without treatment
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Stempien stated in the appeal, “This is vital as the Board is REQUIRED to have reasonable assurances that Appellee will not be a menace to society BEFORE he is paroled, which clearly is lacking.”
If the request for an appeal is granted, the parole board will respond before Circuit Judge Bill O’Grady makes a decision.
Contact Don Reid: dReid@Gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Coldwater Daily Reporter: Prosecutor fighting parole of man convicted of second-degree criminal sexual assault
