GRAND HAVEN, MI- A jury has found a man, who is already a convicted sex offender, guilty of attacking a woman while he was out on parole for a previous assault.
According to News8, the suspect, Gregory DuJardine, was found guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct after a trial that lasted only two days. The trial began on Tuesday, January 14th with the case going to the jury on Wednesday, January 15th and on Thursday afternoon, January 16th, the jury came back with its verdict.
Since sentencing is a bifurcated process, DuJardine will come back to court for a sentencing hearing. It is expected that he will be sentenced to at least 25 years based off of sentencing guidelines for the state of Michigan. He was charged back in September 2024 for the September 8, 2024 assault.
According to testimony from Detective Adam Hill with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office (OCSO), after being arrested, he told investigators, "I'm going to go for life on this one."
Investigators said that DuJardine followed a woman as she drove on US-31, crashed into her vehicle, and then followed her until she pulled into a gas station parking lot in Port Sheldon Township. The woman told investigators that she believed he wanted to file a police report on the crash, but when they both got out of their cars, the many physically and sexually assaulted her.
The woman was able to fight him off and call 911, but by the time deputies arrived to the gas station parking lot, DuJardine was gone. The sheriff's office said that he was arrested in Muskegon for a parole violation. Court documents show that this is not DuJardine's fist time committing such a crime.
He was convicted of similar crimes back in the 1980s. He was found guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1986, for which he was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. Then, in 1989, he was found guilty of first-degree CSC for assault a park attendant. He was sentenced to life in prison for that crime.
His life sentence, however, was not a mandatory term and he was eligible for parole after serving 15 years. In November 2023, DuJardine appeared before a parole board where even though a judge wrote an objection letter to the board, urging it to deny his parole, he was granted parole.
Ottawa County Judge Karen Miedema wrote, "There is no reasonable assurance here where the defendant committed this brutal rape while on parole for a prior sexual assault, has not completed sex offender treatment, has an unrealistic plan for stable housing and employment, and where he fails to recognize the severity of the crime for which he is incarcerated."
According to News8, DuJardine attacked the woman near Holland approximately one year after being granted the very parole Judge Miedema urged against. In her letter, Miedema also referenced a statement DuJardine made after an assault on a gas station employee in 1986, saying it was evidence that he knew he was not safe to be out in public.
According to her letter, DuJardine said after being arrested in 1986, "I need help. I am sick. I went wild. I guess I am just a little crazy." While serving prison time for that assault from 1986 to 1988, DuJardine participated in a Sexual Offender Risk Assessment. Miedema cited the assessor's report, quoting listed concerns with DuJardine's "hostility toward women, general social rejection, impulsivity, sex drive preoccupation, sex as coping, devial sexual preference, and cooperation with supervision."
That report says that at the time of both assaults from the 1980s, DuJardine said he was angry or frustrated and worried about employment. Miedema wrote, "He indicates in the assessment that he engages in sexual behaviors to cope with difficult emotions and when he feels lonely." When Judge James E. Townsend originally gave DuJardine his life sentence in 1989, he wrote that the life sentence was appropriate because DuJardine "was very dangerous to women."
According to News8, the suspect, Gregory DuJardine, was found guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct after a trial that lasted only two days. The trial began on Tuesday, January 14th with the case going to the jury on Wednesday, January 15th and on Thursday afternoon, January 16th, the jury came back with its verdict.
Since sentencing is a bifurcated process, DuJardine will come back to court for a sentencing hearing. It is expected that he will be sentenced to at least 25 years based off of sentencing guidelines for the state of Michigan. He was charged back in September 2024 for the September 8, 2024 assault.
According to testimony from Detective Adam Hill with the Ottawa County Sheriff's Office (OCSO), after being arrested, he told investigators, "I'm going to go for life on this one."
Investigators said that DuJardine followed a woman as she drove on US-31, crashed into her vehicle, and then followed her until she pulled into a gas station parking lot in Port Sheldon Township. The woman told investigators that she believed he wanted to file a police report on the crash, but when they both got out of their cars, the many physically and sexually assaulted her.
The woman was able to fight him off and call 911, but by the time deputies arrived to the gas station parking lot, DuJardine was gone. The sheriff's office said that he was arrested in Muskegon for a parole violation. Court documents show that this is not DuJardine's fist time committing such a crime.
He was convicted of similar crimes back in the 1980s. He was found guilty of second-degree criminal sexual conduct in 1986, for which he was sentenced to two to 15 years in prison. Then, in 1989, he was found guilty of first-degree CSC for assault a park attendant. He was sentenced to life in prison for that crime.
His life sentence, however, was not a mandatory term and he was eligible for parole after serving 15 years. In November 2023, DuJardine appeared before a parole board where even though a judge wrote an objection letter to the board, urging it to deny his parole, he was granted parole.
Ottawa County Judge Karen Miedema wrote, "There is no reasonable assurance here where the defendant committed this brutal rape while on parole for a prior sexual assault, has not completed sex offender treatment, has an unrealistic plan for stable housing and employment, and where he fails to recognize the severity of the crime for which he is incarcerated."
According to News8, DuJardine attacked the woman near Holland approximately one year after being granted the very parole Judge Miedema urged against. In her letter, Miedema also referenced a statement DuJardine made after an assault on a gas station employee in 1986, saying it was evidence that he knew he was not safe to be out in public.
According to her letter, DuJardine said after being arrested in 1986, "I need help. I am sick. I went wild. I guess I am just a little crazy." While serving prison time for that assault from 1986 to 1988, DuJardine participated in a Sexual Offender Risk Assessment. Miedema cited the assessor's report, quoting listed concerns with DuJardine's "hostility toward women, general social rejection, impulsivity, sex drive preoccupation, sex as coping, devial sexual preference, and cooperation with supervision."
That report says that at the time of both assaults from the 1980s, DuJardine said he was angry or frustrated and worried about employment. Miedema wrote, "He indicates in the assessment that he engages in sexual behaviors to cope with difficult emotions and when he feels lonely." When Judge James E. Townsend originally gave DuJardine his life sentence in 1989, he wrote that the life sentence was appropriate because DuJardine "was very dangerous to women."
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