Criminal sexual conduct charges against former corrections deputy dropped.

Jany

Criminal sexual conduct charges against former corrections deputy dropped.

LUDINGTON —  A criminal sexual conduct charge against a former Mason County Sheriff’s Office corrections deputy were dismissed today by 79th District Court Judge Peter Wadel. On March 11, Brad Jany, 28, was charged by the Mason County Prosecuting Attorney’s office on one count of CSC second degree following his arrest by the Mason County Sheriff’s Office. 

According to Mason County Sheriff Kim Cole, Jany’s arrest stemmed from “an inappropriate relationship” with a woman who had been an inmate at the jail. 

“Jany was fired from the jail and his union refused to grieve the termination, leaving him without a job during the holiday season of 2019,”  stated his attorney Michael Nichols. “Brad’s union let him down.  When a union lets down one worker, they let down all workers. I was stunned that they did not fight harder and merely based their failure to act on the fact that Brad acknowledged having the relationship, even though he terminated the relationship once he found out from her that she was, in fact, on probation.”

Criminal sexual conduct second degree is punishable by up to 15 years in prison. 

According to Nichols, Jany’s relationship with the former jail inmate occurred months after she was released from the jail and “when she was on probation to another county in northern Michigan.”

“The statute under which Mr. Jany was charged is very clear in that the employee has to be employed by the county to which the person is on probation,” Nichols said. “The facts were not in dispute that the former inmate was on probation to a completely different county and that she was placed on probation approximately two months after her release from the (Mason) county jail. Especially when the testimony that she gave, consistent with her prior statements to law enforcement is that she initiated contact with Mr. Jany after she was released from the Mason County Jail in May, 2019, that she was not coerced by Mr. Jany and that he terminated their romantic relationship after she told him that she was on probation, neither the letter nor the spirit of the statute was shown to a probable cause standard.”

““On Feb. 27, 2020, detectives swore to a felony warrant for Brad Jany charging him with one count of CSC in the second degree, a 10-year felony. He turned himself in to the court on March 11, 2020,” Cole said in a March 2020 press release. “Mr. Jany had been a member of the sheriff’s office for approximately two years. The incident surrounding Mr. Jany did not take place while he was on duty. It is to have allegedly involved a sexual relationship with a female he had met while she was incarcerated in the Mason County Jail. The investigation revealed the relationship started after she was released from the jail.”

Cole said he ordered an internal investigation of the matter, which was conducted by MCSO detectives. “The investigation concluded on Nov. 20, 2019 at which time the report was sent to the Mason County Prosecutor’s Office for review and issuance of a warrant. On Dec. 10, 2019, the deputy’s employment with the MCSO was terminated.”

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