A Sanilac County judge has issued a stay on an order that would give a man convicted of raping a woman when she was 12 years old joint custody of the child conceived during the rape.
A judge in Sanilac County originally awarded 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo joint legal custody after DNA testing determined who was the child's father, according to the victim's attorney.
The stay on the ruling came down Tuesday and will be in effect until a hearing next week.
The child, who is 8 years old, was conceived during the rape when Mirasolo was 19 years old and the victim was 12 years old.
The victim's attorney, Rebecca Kiessling, said a "consent judgment of filiation" was prepared by the family support division and entered by the court without the mother's consent.
“This is insane,” Kiessling told The Detroit News. “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.”
Now, the victim is asking for assistance through Right to Life of Michigan and Kiessling, who co-founded Hope After Rape Conception.
A hearing is scheduled for Wednesday, Oct. 25 and the case is expected to be the first of its kind in Michigan.
