Victim recalls sexual abuse during emotional testimony 15 years later
HILLSDALE — The victim of repeated sexual abuse as a teenaged girl by a family member 15 years ago shared her story Wednesday afternoon in 2B District Court.
The News does not identify alleged victims of sexual abuse.
She testified Wednesday, Dec. 7, that her now husband is the one who called authorities in to investigate the sexual abuse of her during the COVID-19 pandemic when she suffered from mental health issues.
“I was spiraling downhill with my mental health and was diagnosed with PTSD due to sexual acts,” she said.
The victim — now 28 — sat feet from her alleged abuser, 50-year-old Judas C. Nickles of Jonesville, who sat stoically next to his attorney throughout the duration of the hour-long examination hearing.
Choking back tears and often stopping mid-sentence before continuing, the woman testified that Nickles began touching her inappropriately when she was 13 years old. And it happened “every time she visited.”
More:Jonesville man facing life for criminal sexual conduct offenses
“He waited until everyone left for the day,” she said. “It was morning time. He took me to their bedroom after (his wife) went to work. There wasn’t anything spoken. He just started touching me all over.”
That was in the summer of 2007 at a relative's house in Allen.
The next day, Nickles allegedly did it again.
“He used to tell me how beautiful I was and how I was the perfect combination of my sisters,” she said. “It progressively got more and more serious as I got older.”
The sexual abuse continued when Nickles moved to Mosherville and another incident occurred at Nickles' employer in Hillsdale.
She recalled a Fourth of July celebration where several family members were over where an incident occurred inside the home.
“I had to clean up and we both went back outside at different times,” she said.
When she asked Nickles why he was abusing her, he spewed religious beliefs and told her that kings had multiple wives.
“He ruined religion for me,” she said.
Following the victim’s testimony Wednesday afternoon, Judge Megan Stiverson found there was probable cause to amend one of Nickles’ original charges, upgrading it from second-degree to first-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Nickles is now tentatively scheduled for formal arraignment in the 1st Judicial Circuit Court at 8:30 a.m. Monday, Dec. 12, on four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
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In Michigan, second-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by 15 years imprisonment while first-degree criminal sexual conduct is punishable by up to life in prison.
However, the Hillsdale County Prosecutor’s Office is pursuing each of the seven cases with a fourth-offense habitual offender enhancement meaning all seven offenses are punishable by life in prison.
The prosecutor’s office indicated that Nickles has three prior felony offenses on his record including larceny of firearms, breaking and entering with intent to commit larceny and a prior conviction of attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct from November 1995 in Jackson County.
— Corey Murray is the Public Safety Reporter for The Hillsdale Daily News, Sturgis Journal and The Daily Reporter. Contact him by email at cmurray@hillsdale.net or follow him on Twitter: @cmurrayHDN.
This article originally appeared on Hillsdale Daily News: Victim recalls sexual abuse during emotional testimony 15 years later
