A sentencing hearing has been postponed for a former director of the University of Michigan debate team convicting of soliciting a minor for sex over the Internet.
But Joshua Hoe is still heading to prison. Court records show his recent hearing in Washtenaw County Circuit Court was delayed for two weeks while he was sentenced on similar charges in Macomb County.
Joshua Hoe
Hoe, 43, was sentenced on Oct. 20 to serve between one and seven years in prison, with credit for three days already served, according to Macomb County court records.
He was charged by the Michigan Attorney General’s Office in Macomb County in May after an investigation showed he engaged in graphic sexual online conversations and shared pornographic material with a girl he believed to be 14 years old, officials said.
The online persona was really an undercover investigator. On Sept. 7, the day he was to face jury selection in that case, Hoe pleaded guilty to distributing child sexually abusive material and three counts of accosting children for immoral purposes. Prosecutors dropped two counts of using computers to commit crime.
Thomas Loeb, Hoe's attorney, did not return messages seeking comment.
Earlier this month, Hoe, of Ypsilanti, pleaded guilty to counts of communicating with another to commit a crime over the Internet and accosting a child for immoral purposes in Washtenaw County Circuit Court. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss five other counts of computer-related crimes at sentencing on Nov. 10.
Hoe was replaced as director of U-M’s debate team by assistant director Aaron Kall.
Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.
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