CASSOPOLIS — An Edwardsburg man who had a sex with an underage girl he met online is headed to prison.
Brandon Stapleton, 24, was sentenced to 30 months to 15 years on a third degree criminal sexual conduct conviction Friday in Cass County Circuit Court. He will receive credit for 88 days already served.
Earlier this year Stapleton began chatting with a 15-year-old Kalamazoo girl and exchanging text messages with her. Stapelton claims that she presented herself as an 18-year-old.
He convinced her to meet with him in March, when Stapleton drove to Kalamazoo and brought her to his parents’ home in Edwardsburg. Stapleton then engaged in acts of oral sex and intercourse with the girl.
The victim’s father addressed the court, expressing how the situation has affected the family.
“We knew something was terribly, terribly wrong by her behavior,” he said. “She has had suicidal thoughts…That man knew she was underage.”
Prosecutor Victor Fitz called the offense a “despicable action.”
“The critical thing is adults need to act like adults and protect children,” Fitz said. “You exploited someone you should be protecting.”
Defense attorney Lanny Fisher said the situation is not the “typical sex offender case” in that the offender didn’t know the victim well and “didn’t target her for her age.”
For his part, Stapleton expressed remorse.
“I’d like to apologize to my family, (the victim’s) family and the courts,” he said. “It’s been very hard for me to live with this…I am not a bad person.”
Judge Michael Dodge said although Stapleton had no prior criminal record, the nature of the crime required a prison sentence.
“It was an extremely poor and selfish decision,” he said. “Once you picked (her) up, you had to know she was underage.”