Bumper-car operator charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct

Home City News Bumper-car operator charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct
Bumper-car operator charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct
Hillsdale County Fair Ferris wheel. Collegian | Josephine von Dohlen

A bumper-car operator at the Hillsdale County Fair was arrested by Hillsdale City Police and charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct this week.

William Presley, a New Jersey native, allegedly befriended a 19-year-old woman while she was riding the bumper cars before leading her away from the fairgrounds to have sex with him.

“She said he bought her a free-ride bracelet. I think that when he got off duty at some point later in the day she said he took her arm and convinced her to go across the street to an abandoned building,” said Hillsdale County Prosecutor Neal Brady. “She said that he had sex with her.”

Brady said Presley denied it at first but later admitted he had had sex with her in an interview with police.

Presley was arraigned in the Hillsdale County District Court Tuesday and is being held on a $100,000 bond with 10 percent allowed in the Hillsdale County Jail, said City of Hillsdale Police Chief Scott Hephner. Criminal sexual misconduct in the third degree is a felony punishable by no more than 15 years of imprisonment, according to the Michigan Penal Code on the Michigan Legislature website.

Brady said a probable-cause hearing would be held for Presley, likely next Wednesday. The next step would be a preliminary examination.

Presley does have a criminal history of domestic violence and alcohol-related crimes, though nothing involving sexual assault, Brady said.

The issue is not a public-safety concern, said Hephner, noting that the event was “isolated.”

“We don’t have a predator on the loose,” Hephner said.

Hephner said crimes like this very rarely happen at the fair.

Brady said he couldn’t recall a crime similar to this but added that there are usually one or two crimes per year committed by fair employees, though not usually felonies or sexual-misconduct related.

“This might be the second [criminal sexual conduct] that was fair-related in 20 years,” he said.

Tom Richards, president of the Hillsdale County Fair, declined a request for comment.