Dunham Lake Groping Case Moves Toward a Trial

A Highland man who is accused of sexual assaulting two teenage girls on Dunham Lake in Hartland is headed for a trial in Livingston County Circuit Court.

John D. Carpenter, 40, waived his exam Wednesday when he appeared before 53rd District Court Judge Suzanne Geddis on two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct involving two 13-year-olds.

He will go before before Livingston County Circuit Judge Michael Hatty for a pre-trial conference within 30 days after also waiving his circuit court arraignment. A date for the pre-trial conference has not been set.

Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct is a misdemeanor punishable by up to two years in prison and or a $500 fine, according to state law.

The case stems from a June 4 incident where the two girls were swimming near a platform at the lake when approached by a male swimmer who engaged them in conversation, according to Michigan State Police of the Brighton post. The man then grabbed the breast area of one girl and grabbed the buttocks of the other as she started to go up a ladder.

Police say one of the girls' mothers was photographing them from the other side of the lake at the time and captured the man's image in one of the photos. The families later went to police to report the incident and the photo was released to the media, resulting in tips and the suspect's arrest. 

Geddis warned Carpenter on Wednesday "to have no contact with the girls, even through third parties." 

Carpenter, represented by court-appointed attorney David Prine of Howell, is currently free on $10,000 personal recognizance bond.