A prosecutor who has been the top law enforcer in Michigan's capital area for nearly 20 years was charged Monday with hiring prostitutes hundreds of times and committing related crimes, including paying for sex with a woman who wanted help in a child custody dispute
A police affidavit says
Stuart Dunnings III met prostitutes through websites and told some of the women he was the county prosecutor. He paid one woman for sex as many as three or four times a week over five years, while another prostitute had sex with him more than 200 times, the complaint said.
The case against Dunnings, the elected Democratic prosecutor in Ingham County, developed from tips during a federal human-trafficking investigation, state Attorney General
Bill Schuette said.
The Ingham County prosecutor has been accused of crimes that, if he’s convicted, could land him behind bars for decades. Attorney General Bill Schuette says Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings is facing felony charges related to prostitution — something that allegedly went on for nearly five years.
The charges, filed at four courts in three Michigan counties (Ingham, Clinton, and Ionia), include a total of 15 criminal counts including 10 counts and engaging in the services of prostitute and four counts of willful neglect of duty.
Dunnings is accused of trading cash for sex; but Schuette said, the most serious is the charge of enticement (prostitution/pandering, 1 count).
“A felony for enticing a woman, who had never before engaged in commercial sex, to perform sexual acts with him for cash,” Schuette said, at a news conference.
He said Dunnings role as a crime fighter certainly doesn’t exclude him from justice.
“It does not matter. If you break the law, there are consequences,” Schuette said.
The accusations against Dunnings come after a federal human trafficking investigation.
Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wrigglesworth said the AG’s description of the investigation’s findings as “disheartening” isn’t strong enough.
“In my opinion, it would be an understatement. This was a huge betray of the trust,” he told reporters.