Purdy
The jury trial for Ryan Purdy, a 48-year-old Mayville man
who once worked as a probation officer in Saginaw County, continued Friday with
testimony from the alleged victim’s boyfriend.
Purdy is charged with 29 counts of first-degree criminal
sexual conduct and 29 counts of third-degree CSC in connection with sexual
relations between he and the teenage daughter of his then-girlfriend.
Defense attorney, Bay City-based Brian Jean, has argued that
any sexual relationship between the alleged victim and his client was
consensual, and occurred after the girl turned 16, which is the legal age of
consent in Michigan.
Tuscola County assistant prosecutor Erica Walle, as well as
the alleged victim, have said that the girl was 15 when the sexual acts began
and that she didn’t want them to occur at all, even after she turned 16. The
prosecution alleges the misconduct began in 2013 and lasted through 2018,
taking place in Millington and Fremont townships.
Much of Jean’s questioning of the alleged victim’s boyfriend
was connected to an audio recording the man made the first time he spoke with
Purdy, which had earlier been played for the jury.
Jean’s line of questioning seemed to imply that he thought
the boyfriend was more concerned that Purdy was potentially having sex with a
minor than having sex with the girl against her will.
“Don’t you think it’s a little bit odd that the (alleged
victim’s) boyfriend is angry that (Purdy’s) been sexually assaulting her for
years, and the question you ask him is ‘how old was she?’” Jean asked. “Don’t
you find it odd that that is what you’re concerned with?”
According to testimony, the witness began dating the alleged
victim in the summer of 2018. The couple have lived out of state since the
relationship began. In May 2019, she told him about the sex acts with Purdy and
a complaint was filed at the Michigan State Police Caro Post. May 2019 is also
when the phone call between Purdy and the boyfriend occurred.
The boyfriend told the jury that Purdy told him he had a
sexual relationship with the victim when she was 15, and that’s when the
boyfriend began recording the call. At no point during the recording does the
boyfriend ask Purdy how old the alleged victim was when the acts began, and
Purdy does not say she was 15.
“You believe that this man had been sexually assaulting your
girlfriend for years, you call him up to confront him about it, and you don’t
ask him why he was sexually assaulting your girlfriend?” Jean asked the
boyfriend. “You ask him how old was she.”
The boyfriend said he was attempting to gain evidence to
present if the case ended up in front of a jury.
“My concern was she was underage,” the boyfriend said. “And
I knew I was recording it to use in court, so if I could get an admittance out
of him (it could be used as evidence).”
In his Thursday opening statement, Jean told the jury that
Purdy is a “sleaze.” But that all sexual interactions between his client and
the alleged victim were legal.
Purdy worked as a Saginaw County probation officer from
September 1995 until his resignation in April 2003. According to testimony,
Purdy and his wife and child were neighbors of the alleged victim. A couple of
years later, the girl’s mother and father divorced, and the mother began dating
Purdy.
The trial began June 8 with jury selection, a process that
lasted until about 5 p.m. that day.
Thursday morning, the 10-woman, four-man jury (two of the jurors are alternates
and will be dismissed prior to deliberation) was seated and began hearing
witness testimony in the case. The trial is being held at the Caro Knights of
Columbus Hall, 903 Ryan Road in Indianfields Township. The K of C is larger
than the circuit court room at the courthouse and has more room for social
distancing.
The case is being presided over by Judge Donald Teeple, a
longtime Sanilac County judge who is now retired.
The trial is taking longer than expected, so at the end
Friday’s testimony, a decision was made to take a four-day hiatus and resume
the trial today at the Tuscola County Courthouse. Although the public will not
be allowed to be present, the trial will be streamed on the circuit court’s
YouTube channel. To watch, go to the Tuscola County Circuit Court webpage and
click on the YouTube link.
The trial is being moved to the courthouse because a new
jury trial began Tuesday at the K of C Hall.
Although Purdy faces 58 counts of criminal sexual conduct,
he can be found guilty of only 29. Walle told jurors that they will have three
options when they begin deliberation – to find Purdy not guilty, guilty of 29
counts of first-degree CSC or guilty of 29 counts of third-degree CSC. Both
degrees of CSC involve sexual penetration. First-degree CSC carries a maximum
penalty of life in prison while third-degree CSC carries a maximum sentence of
15 years.
Purdy was arraigned on the charges in August 2019.
