A Rapist Was Awarded Joint Custody of Child He Fathered With 12-Year-Old Victim

In some of the most horrific news we’ve heard in a while, a rapist was awarded joint custody of the child he fathered with his 12-year old victim. A judge in Michigan gave Christopher Mirasolo joint custody of the 8-year old boy. The rapist did not initiate custody proceedings. Rather, Judge Gregory S. Ross used his judicial authority to make the ruling.

Image: Giphy

A rapist was awarded joint custody by a judge without any input from the victim or her child. Just, let that sink in.

Christopher Mirasolo was charged with first degree rape in 2008. The victim was 12 years old. The horrific crime should have carried a mandatory life sentence, with a minimum of 25 years in prison. But Mirasolo was given a plea deal for attempted rape, and only served 6 1/2 months in jail. The victim became pregnant as a result of the rape, and decided to keep the baby.

Mirasolo was arrested again in 2010, and pleaded no contest to criminal sexual conduct. The victim was between 13-5 years old.

In that case, he served almost 2 years, and was forced to register as a sex offender upon release. The supervision conditions include having a responsible adult present if he is with a child under 18 years of age. However, the conditions don’t include having to stay away from his victims.

An attorney for the victim says the case was initiated after her client was surveyed by the county about child support she had received.

Rebecca Kiessling says her client has received food stamps and insurance for her son. In an apparent attempt to recoup that money, Judge Ross ordered a DNA test to establish paternity and compel the rapist to pay child support. When the results showed Mirasolo to be the biological father, the judge went one step further and awarded him joint custody. He also gave Mirasolo his victim’s address, and ordered the woman, now 21, to move back to Michigan. She and her son had relocated to Florida.

The case is believed to be the first of it’s kind in Michigan, and quite possibly the nation. And as it turns out, the judge may have grossly overstepped his judicial powers in awarding the rapist custody. According to a Michigan law passed in 2016 under the Child Custody Act, “if a child custody dispute involves a child who is conceived as the result of acts for which 1 of the child’s biological parents is convicted of criminal sexual conduct … or is found by clear and convincing evidence in a fact-finding hearing to have committed acts of nonconsensual sexual penetration, the court shall not award custody to that biological parent.”

In other words, the judge could have ordered the rapist to pay child support WITHOUT awarding him joint custody of the child. Instead, the rapist was awarded joint custody, victimizing the woman and her son all over again.

A hearing has been scheduled for October 25 following an objection filed by Kiessling on behalf of her client. Mirasolo’s attorney has said it’s unclear what, if any, role her client (THE RAPIST) will have in the child’s life. A petition to remove Judge Ross from the bench is now circulating. This poor woman was victimized by the court system once, and it’s happening again. We are disgusted.

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(Image: Michigan Department of Corrections)

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