Sturgis man convicted of criminal sexual conduct with 14-year-old
Kirk Hoff Jr., 42, of Sturgis, will be sentenced to prison June 24 after a St. Joseph County Circuit Court jury convicted him last week of third-degree criminal sexual conduct with a 14-year old babysitter in June 2020.
The jury listened to testimony on May 17. Jurors heard the closing argument, then deliberated Thursday for more than four hours. Hoff, who has denied having sex with the girl, broke into sobs at the guilty verdict.
The teen babysat for Hoff's 5-year-old daughter while the child's mother worked the night shift.
On Dec. 17, 2020, the teen and her mother went to Sturgis police to report Hoff had sex with the girl in June. The girl told officer Greg Peterson she was upset when Hoff arrived home because her boyfriend had broken up with her. Hoff sat next to her on the bed to console her.
As they talked, the teen lay back on the bed. Hoff also did. She said Hoff began kissing her, fondled her, took her clothes off and had sex with her.
When the girl told her mother, she confronted Hoff. He denied having sex with the daughter, but later admitted something happened. When she sent a text asking him why he would do that, Hoff responded, "What is the harm with a kiss?"
Defense attorney Paul Gipson asked the jury, "How is it fair to Kirk Hoff to tell him seven months after the fact that he is accused of this? This is not fair. Had this alleged crime been reported to law enforcement sooner, Kirk Hoff would have been able to have at least a chance at trying to prove to his friends, to his family, he didn't do this."
The families involved were all friends.
When first reported, the daughter was not clear about the date. Assistant prosecutor Deborah Davis pointed out that when the teen had time to think about other related events, the girl could pinpoint the date.
Hoff's "significant other" first allowed the girl to babysit, but then did not want the girl there because she thought the teen was "too affectionate" with Hoff.
After the sexual encounter with Hoff, the girl came back later to babysit. In a videotaped police interview, Hoff asked police why she would do this if something had happened,
Later she did return to babysit. Davis explained her testimony.
"She felt she's the only stable person to care for this child, a child that she would feed, brush the child's hair because when she would get there, the child's dirty, in a dirty pull-up nappy," Davis said.
The teenage girl was emotional as she testified, giggling at times and almost vomiting.
Hoff told in detail what took place that night.
But Davis pointed the jury to Hoff's testimony.
"If you listen to him, he's blaming, blaming the victim," Davis said, paraphrasing Hoff, "'She tried to kiss me I had to shove her away.' Excuses. He's got an excuse for everything that was brought up."
Gipson argued to the jury Hoff did not have to prove anything. Davis said the only thing the state had to prove was that Hoff knew the girl was only 14 at that time the two had sex in St. Joseph County.
In Michigan, anyone under age 16 cannot legally consent to sexual activity.
Hoff was charged as a second habitual offender because of a February 2020 conviction for possession of meth. A conviction for third-degree CSC requires a mandatory prison sentence. That makes the maximum 27-1/2 years.
This article originally appeared on Sturgis Journal: Kirk Hoff convicted of criminal sexual conduct with 14-year-old