A man is set for a jury trial on numerous counts of criminal sexual conduct for alleged misconduct with a 12-year-old. Roy Dewayne Palmer was arrested by Jonesville police on a felony warrant, charging him with two counts of 1st-degree CSC and two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct.
All charges are being pursued with a habitual offender fourth offense notice, increasing the maximum possible sentence to life in prison. Palmer has numerous previous convictions for home invasion, larceny and possession of a firearm by a felon. He was on felony probation in Wayne County at the time the alleged CSC offenses took place.
A tentative trial date has been scheduled for Sept. 29 in 1st Judicial Circuit Court. Hillsdale County prosecuting attorney Neal Brady stated in an email that at the time the alleged crime occurred, Palmer was staying with a friend in Jonesville. Palmer’s friend, whose identity is being withheld to protect the identity of the alleged victim in the case, had a 12-year-old child.
In early 2020, it came to the friend’s attention that Palmer had been engaging in sexual acts with the child when Palmer last stayed with him in fall 2019. Palmer had led the child to believe that he had mature feelings for the child and as a result the child liked him for this, Brady said.
The inappropriate relationship came to the child’s father’s attention through the child’s school where the child confided in a friend the nature of the relationship.
Palmer is being held on a $2 million bond on all charges and remains incarcerated at the Hillsdale County jail pending trial.
In Michigan, The life sentence for a man convicted of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Marquette County has been upheld.
The Michigan Court of Appeals said that it disagrees with 47-year-old Gary Lee O'Connell's argument that he was incompetent to enter a plea in March 2017. O'Connell argued that Marquette County Circuit Court should have allowed him to withdraw his guilty plea, which carried a minimum sentence of life in prison.
Court documents say the case stems from O'Connell sexual contact with a 10-year-old girl during the summer of 2016. O'Connell's criminal history included a prior conviction of first-degree CSC involving sexual intercourse with a 12-year-old girl.
O'Connell is serving his life sentence at the Chippewa Correctional Facility.
