INQUISITR.COM / News & Politics

Judge Gregory S. Ross: Petition Gets 2,709 Signatures To Disbar Judge Due To Christopher Mirasolo Rape Case

By Paula Mooney
Published on: 06:00 PST, Oct 9, 2017

Judge Gregory S. Ross is continuing to feel international pressure after the judge in the 24th Circuit Court Family Division of Sanilac County, Michigan, granted Christopher Mirasolo access to his rape victim and her 8-year-old son. As reported by the Inquisitr, Judge Ross at first faced social media backlash for demanding Mirasolo’s name to be placed on the birth certificate of the child that he fathered via forcible rape.

Christopher was an 18-year-old, according to Detroit News, when Mirasolo and a friend picked up his 12-year-old victim, her 13-year-old sister, and another friend one night in September of 2008. Whereas the girls thought they’d be sneaking out for a fast-food run to McDonald’s, they soon discovered Mirasolo had something sinister in mind when he threw their cell phones out of the vehicle.

Mirasolo took them instead into Detroit to steal gasoline and returned to Sanilac County, where Christopher kidnapped them and held the girls for two days in an empty home. Rebecca Kiessling is the attorney for the rape victim, who was 12 years of age at the time of the sexual assault; the victim is now a 21-year-old. The Pro-Life Speaker shared Lt. Governor Brian Calley’s post about the incident, wherein Calley wrote of hopefully getting the “outrageous and unacceptable” decision overturned. As of this writing, one petition has gained nearly 3,000 signatures to disbar Judge Ross.

The rape victim’s older sister was released in a park back in 2008, yet both she and her sister were warned by Christopher that if they spoke a word of what happened, Mirasolo would kill them. When the 12-year-old rape victim discovered she was pregnant the following month, in October of 2008, Mirasolo was arrested, but he didn’t serve much jail time. A forcible rape and death threat could have landed Mirasolo in prison for 25 years or more, but Mirasolo took a plea deal that granted him an “attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct” charge. Christopher received a sentence of one year in county jail, but he got out after approximately six months to care for his ailing mother. Kiessling was told that first-time rapists usually didn’t get jail time because it made them worse.

“[The rape victim] and her family were told first-time sex offenders weren’t sent to prison because people come out worse after they go there.”

Mirasolo would go on to rape another child between 13 and 15 years of age in March of 2010, a crime for which Mirasolo served four years. Christopher’s lawyer, Barbara Yockey, wasn’t sure what kind of time Mirasolo would spend with his son after Christopher was recently notified that he was the father of the child. The case received worldwide attention after being brought to light on The Steve Gruber Show out of Lansing.

The DNA determination of fatherhood only came after the county began looking into the rape victim’s child support payments. Judge Ross is also coming under heavy fire for telling Mirasolo where his rape victim lived and insisting that Mirasolo’s name be placed on the child’s birth certificate, without asking the rape victim’s permission. Kiessling claimed that Eric Scott, an assistant prosecutor, said the rape victim had granted her consent, but Kiessling called that a lie.

Judge Ross has not made a readily findable public statement about his decision to grant shared custody of the child. However, the rape victim was ordered to return home to Michigan from Florida immediately or be held in contempt of court. As for the unnamed rape victim, she explained to Detroit News that perhaps Judge Ross’ “crazy” decision was monetarily based.

“I think this is all crazy. They (officials) never explained anything to me. I was receiving about $260 a month in food stamps for me and my son and health insurance for him. I guess they were trying to see how to get some of the money back.”

According to Sanilac Broadcasting, the DNA test took place on September 22. After that, Judge Ross granted Mirasolo shared custody after a “Consent Judgment of Filiation” was created by Prosecutor James V. Young’s office, which was not entered into the court with the rape victim’s consent, according to Kiessling. With a hearing scheduled for Wednesday, October 25, petitioners are hoping that their efforts to get Judge Ross off the bench – as a new Change.org petition seeks to do – along with objections and a motion filed on behalf of the rape victim mother recently, will help overturn Judge Ross’ decision.

According to the Michigan Department of Corrections website, Christopher Michael Mirasolo is five-foot-six and weighs 163 pounds. His current status is listed as a “Parolee” in Sanilac/Sandusky. Mirasolo has a scar on the left side of his face, head, and on his lip. His active sentence is listed as “Criminal Sexual Conduct, 3rd Deg (Person 13 Thru 15),” which came with a minimum sentence of five years and a maximum of 15. That “Date of Offense” was March 29, 2010, with a “Conviction Type” of Nolo Contendere. The inactive “Criminal Sexual Conduct, 4th Deg (Person 13 -16)” charge lists Mirasolo’s sentence one-year and one-month – up to two years – for the same offense date and conviction type.

Additional inactive sentences for the “Criminal Sexual Conduct, 3rd Deg (Multiple Variables) – Attempt” charge for the offense that occurred on September 6, 2008, came with supervision conditions that required a “[r]esponsible adult [be] present if with child 17 or under.” Perhaps if Judge Ross’ decision is overturned, Christopher will not be allowed unsupervised access – or any access – to his child, due to Mirasolo’s child sexual assault convictions.

[Featured Image by Antonio Guillem/Shutterstock]

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