MACOMB COUNTY, Michigan — A teenage boy who was charged in January with intentionally beating his pregnant girlfriend’s belly with a miniature baseball bat, thereby inducing a miscarriage, has pleaded “no contest” to the charges and will not serve any jail time. The teen, now 17, awaits a juvenile sentencing or disposition on the charge September 29.
Macomb County Prosecutor Eric Smith, who said in January that “this crime is shocking and reprehensible,” and “I will not entertain any plea bargaining on it” defended his leniency by saying “It's not a plea bargain or a sentence bargain. He pleaded as charged.” “The reason for the no contest plea is the defendant might have a concern about civil litigation, and in today's overly litigious environment anything is possible.”
Evidence indicates that the prosecution acted otherwise. According to the Macomb Daily an order entered in court Wednesday formalizing the plea states that “conditions of the plea are that the court will have jurisdiction over (the boy) until age 19 and that the prosecution will not seek incarceration of (him) at disposition.”
In effect the teen will probably serve two years of juvenile probation and may have the case dismissed completely if he completes the probation. Prosecutors have said they oppose any dismissal, but defense attorney Miranda Massie believes that “in human terms, the cost of going to trial would probably be too high.” “We still think there was no crime committed here. But even if we went to trial and won, the likelihood of losing his anonymity under the national media attention would mean a heavy toll for him, and for her. And this was a good resolution.”
The teen’s former girlfriend, who consented to the beating and was also aged 16 at the time, faced no charges. The boy however was facing a 15-year felony charge with a more probable outcome, if found guilty, of incarceration in a Juvenile Center until he turned 21.
The pro-abortion political aspect was certainly in play as Massie feared that the case could be used to “give reproductive rights a big push backwards.”
(This article courtesy of LifeSiteNews.com.)
