By Susan Bromley

Staff Writer

A Brandon Township man has been charged with sexually assaulting his 12-year-old stepdaughter.

The 42-year-old man, whose name is being withheld by The Citizen to protect the victim’s identity, was arraigned May 5 in 52-2 District Court on three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct on a person under the age of 13.

That person is his stepdaughter, who told an Oakland County Sheriff’s Office detective the abuse began approximately a year-and-a-half ago and she had been inappropriately touched by her stepfather about 50 times since then.

The girl’s mother had suspicions because her husband treated this daughter differently than the other children in the family, but the victim denied anything had happened, fearing she would be in trouble and that her mother and stepfather would divorce, according to an OCSO report. Three weeks ago, the girl told her mother about the abuse and the mother confronted her husband, who asked if he could apologize and have a second chance to be a better father and husband.

After receiving a tip May 4 about the assaults and interviewing the girl and her mother, the suspect was contacted by phone and complied with a request to come to the substation for an interview. He confessed to inappropriately touching his stepdaughter every other week for more than a year and stated he “knew it was wrong and it just made him sick and he thought about just putting a bullet in his head.”

The man was released from custody on a GPS tether with a $25,000 personal bond. Each count of first degree criminal sexual conduct on a person under 13 is punishable by a life prison sentence or any term of years. The mandatory minimum sentence is 25 years in prison and lifetime electronic monitoring.