MI Youth Pastor Gets 25-40 Years On Child Sex Charges

Michigan Live reports:

Convicted of sexually assaulting children in the mid-1990s, former church group leader Michael Baxter will be 73 years old when he will be eligible for parole from prison. Jackson County Circuit Judge Thomas Wilson sentenced Baxter, 48, to serve 25 to 40 years in prison Thursday, Aug. 3, before a court packed with victims and their family members.

He was on trial on five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct after being accused of sexually assaulting several children, ages 10 and 15, from 1996 to 2013. Baxter was a youth group leader from 1997 to 2001 at Church of Christ, 1341 Horton Road. The 25 to 40 year sentence is above Baxter’s recommended sentencing guidelines of 10 to 25 years.

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Jurors found Michael Baxter guilty of four counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, June 13, after more than a week on trial. https://t.co/hZBY0wvgvc

— MLive (@MLive) August 3, 2023