A Michigan man has managed to anger the entire internet, regardless of political ideology — and in this day and age, that’s saying something. What did he do? Oh, he just wanted joint custody of the child he fathered. Nothing wrong with that, right?
Oh, there wouldn’t have been…except that he fathered the child after allegedly raping the mother.
A Sanilac County Circuit judge has granted parenting time and joint legal custody of an 8-year-old boy to a convicted sex offender who allegedly raped the child’s mother nine years ago.
Christopher Mirasolo, 27, of Brown City was awarded joint legal custody by Judge Gregory S. Ross after DNA testing established paternity of the child, according to the victim’s attorney, Rebecca Kiessling, who is seeking protection under the federal Rape Survivor Child Custody Act. A hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.
The case, initially reported on “The Steve Gruber Show,” a Lansing-based radio program, is believed the first of its kind in Michigan and possibly the nation. According to the victim and Kiessling, it was prompted after the county surveyed the victim regarding child support she had received this past year.
“This is insane,” said Kiessling, who filed objections Friday with Ross. “Nothing has been right about this since it was originally investigated. He was never properly charged and should still be sitting behind bars somewhere, but the system is victimizing my client, who was a child herself when this all happened.”
If there’s one thing we should all be able to agree on it’s the fact that if you rape someone, you do. Not. Get. Any. Future. Involvement. With. Parent. Or. Child.
To make matters worse, it appears an assistant district attorney argued that the victim consented to sexual intercourse.
“An assistant prosecutor on this, Eric Scott, told me she had granted her consent, which was a lie — she has never been asked to do this and certainly never signed anything,” Kiessling said.
The problem is that nine years ago the victim was 12 years old. There is literally no state in the country where the age of consent is 12. None. Especially when Mirasolo was 18.
Look, our own Dr. Helen has outlined cases in her book “Men on Strike: Why Men Are Boycotting Marriage, Fatherhood, and the American Dream – and Why It Matters” concerning men getting screwed for fathering children when they were raped, usually with the court demanding child support from male rape victims (including one who “fathered” a child while underage himself). If those are wrong–and they are–then how is this any better?
Is it somehow better because the courts failed to prosecute Mirasolo? Frankly, the age of the victim and the positive DNA test should make any prosecution a slam dunk–but instead of prison, he gets joint custody.
Proof positive that we may have a legal system, but it’s definitely not a justice system.
Update: Judge halts order giving rapist joint custody of child conceived in the crime.
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