MENOMINEE, MI (WTAQ-WLUK) – A state appeals court upheld the sentence for former Menominee County sheriff’s deputy and school liaison officer Brian Helfert on sexual assault convictions.
Helfert was sentenced to 9-to-15 years in prison after being convicted of criminal sexual conduct of a child.
Helfert appealed, ruling the sentence improperly exceeded the guidelines.
But in a five-page decision issued Thursday, the Michigan Court of Appeals rejected his arguments.
Defendant engaged in multiple instances of criminal sexual conduct that continued for years. The trial court reasonably felt that the offense variables did not give sufficient weight to defendant’s pattern of using his status as a police officer in a school to groom and manipulate students, or the extent of defendant’s abuse of the victims, which is a valid reason for a departure under MCL 769.34(3)(b). Overall, the departure sentence is proportional to the offense and the offender,” the decision states.
Helfert was also sentenced in cases involving victims.
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