MUSKEGON, Mich. [Associated Press]— A 37-year-old man who was accused of having sex with his girlfriend’s underage daughter under an alleged written contract with the girl and her mother was sentenced to several prison terms.
Michael Fitzgibbon was sentenced Friday to up to 15 years for each of four counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct after prosecutors said he, his girlfriend and her daughter signed a contract allowing the teen to be his sex partner for two months. He was also sentenced to 12 to 25 years for each of two other cases involving first-degree criminal sexual conduct charges involving a 12-year-old girl. He is to serve the sentences at the same time.
Fitzgibbon pleaded no contest to the charges last month. A no contest plea is not an admission of guilt but is treated the same way for sentencing purposes.
The case arose after the woman, afraid of losing her boyfriend while recuperating from surgery, allegedly arranged for the three to sign a contract in June, The Muskegon Chronicle reported Saturday. In exchange for the sex, the 15-year-old testified she was to be paid and receive privileges, such as piercings, hair dyeing and permission to stay overnight with her own boyfriend.
In a letter read by assistant Prosecutor Dale J. Hilson, the alleged victim wrote that since the incidents last summer, she has tried to commit suicide, was treated at a Grand Rapids psychiatric facility and is now undergoing therapy.