Post by Shuftin on Jan 24, 2007 2:20:26 GMT -5
January 23, 2007
By CRYSTAL HARMON
SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN – A former Bay County Sheriff’s deputy, fired last year after being charged with 11 felonies alleging he ran a private business while on duty, was charged on Monday with raping a 13-year-old girl.
Dale P. Van Wert, 48, of Garfield Township, was arraigned in Saginaw County on three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. If convicted, Van Wert faces up to life in prison. The Saginaw County judge, conducting the arraignment after Bay County’s three district judges recused themselves, ordered Van Wert held without bond.
Although moot in light of the fact that Van Wert cannot be bonded out, he’s ordered to have no contact with children under the age of 18. His bond for the previous charges was raised to $150,000.
Although no police report was contained in Van Wert’s new criminal file at the Bay County Court Facility, paperwork authorizing the charges indicates that Van Wert is accused of having sexual intercourse with the girl and otherwise sexually assaulting her at his home at 1251 W. Kitchen Road between Dec. 6 and Jan. 7.
Van Wert is scheduled to face an evidence hearing in Bay County District Court on those charges on Jan. 29 before a visiting judge who will be assigned by the State Court Administrator’s Office. Potential witnesses listed in court records include the victim, Van Wert’s wife, an official from the Midland County Department of Human Services, and three Michigan State Police officers.
Van Wert had been free on his own recognizance while awaiting a Jan. 29 evidence hearing on four counts of perjury, three counts of uttering and publishing, four counts of obtaining restricted information regarding vehicles and four counts of unauthorized use of information from the Law Enforcement Information Network. Other than the LIEN charges, the others are felonies, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
In those charges, prosecutors alleged that Van Wert, while on duty assigned as security to the Bay County Court Facility, did investigations, collected fees and served papers for his private business, Court Integrity Services.
Van Wert made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Bay County Board of Commissioners in 2006.
Van Wert and his wife, Terri, a former Bay County District Court employee, have five children and also operate a licensed foster care home in Linwood, sheltering children, including those who’ve been abused and neglected by their biological parents.
Bay County Sheriff John Miller suspended Van Wert with pay in July during an investigation into the allegations of misconduct on the job and fired him in September when he refused to explain his activities, the sheriff said last fall.
Van Wert has operated Court Service Integrity, a business that serves court papers, such as subpoenas, summons, small claims, eviction orders and divorce papers, to defendants and witnesses in legal disputes.
The sheriff’s deputies often serve court papers for a fee ranging from $10 to $30 plus mileage.
Miller alleged that Van Wert often conducted his private business while on duty, which was a conflict of interest, and that he pocketed the money for serving the papers which should have gone to the county.
The Times was unable to reach Van Wert’s attorney, Matthew L. Reyes, for comment this morning. Reyes told a television reporter at the arraignment on Monday that Van Wert is not guilty.
www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1169568948196240.xml&coll=4
By CRYSTAL HARMON
SAGINAW COUNTY, MICHIGAN – A former Bay County Sheriff’s deputy, fired last year after being charged with 11 felonies alleging he ran a private business while on duty, was charged on Monday with raping a 13-year-old girl.
Dale P. Van Wert, 48, of Garfield Township, was arraigned in Saginaw County on three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. If convicted, Van Wert faces up to life in prison. The Saginaw County judge, conducting the arraignment after Bay County’s three district judges recused themselves, ordered Van Wert held without bond.
Although moot in light of the fact that Van Wert cannot be bonded out, he’s ordered to have no contact with children under the age of 18. His bond for the previous charges was raised to $150,000.
Although no police report was contained in Van Wert’s new criminal file at the Bay County Court Facility, paperwork authorizing the charges indicates that Van Wert is accused of having sexual intercourse with the girl and otherwise sexually assaulting her at his home at 1251 W. Kitchen Road between Dec. 6 and Jan. 7.
Van Wert is scheduled to face an evidence hearing in Bay County District Court on those charges on Jan. 29 before a visiting judge who will be assigned by the State Court Administrator’s Office. Potential witnesses listed in court records include the victim, Van Wert’s wife, an official from the Midland County Department of Human Services, and three Michigan State Police officers.
Van Wert had been free on his own recognizance while awaiting a Jan. 29 evidence hearing on four counts of perjury, three counts of uttering and publishing, four counts of obtaining restricted information regarding vehicles and four counts of unauthorized use of information from the Law Enforcement Information Network. Other than the LIEN charges, the others are felonies, with penalties of up to 15 years in prison.
In those charges, prosecutors alleged that Van Wert, while on duty assigned as security to the Bay County Court Facility, did investigations, collected fees and served papers for his private business, Court Integrity Services.
Van Wert made an unsuccessful bid for a seat on the Bay County Board of Commissioners in 2006.
Van Wert and his wife, Terri, a former Bay County District Court employee, have five children and also operate a licensed foster care home in Linwood, sheltering children, including those who’ve been abused and neglected by their biological parents.
Bay County Sheriff John Miller suspended Van Wert with pay in July during an investigation into the allegations of misconduct on the job and fired him in September when he refused to explain his activities, the sheriff said last fall.
Van Wert has operated Court Service Integrity, a business that serves court papers, such as subpoenas, summons, small claims, eviction orders and divorce papers, to defendants and witnesses in legal disputes.
The sheriff’s deputies often serve court papers for a fee ranging from $10 to $30 plus mileage.
Miller alleged that Van Wert often conducted his private business while on duty, which was a conflict of interest, and that he pocketed the money for serving the papers which should have gone to the county.
The Times was unable to reach Van Wert’s attorney, Matthew L. Reyes, for comment this morning. Reyes told a television reporter at the arraignment on Monday that Van Wert is not guilty.
www.mlive.com/news/bctimes/index.ssf?/base/news-8/1169568948196240.xml&coll=4