Ypsilanti man pleads guilty to sexually assaulting teenager in Ann Arbor in February
One of two Ypsilanti men charged with sexually assaulting underage teenage girls during an incident that prompted a statewide Amber Alert in February will be sentenced Thursday in Washtenaw County Circuit Court.
Wayne Rankin
Wayne Rankin, 25, recently pleaded guilty to third-degree criminal sexual conduct in a case involving a 14-year-old, records show. He was initially charged with raping the girl during commission of a felony while they spent a few days together after meeting on an AATA bus in early February.
Woodrow Roosevelt Williams, also 25, was with them and is charged with sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl at A Victory Inn on Washtenaw Avenue in the same incident. He is scheduled to stand trial on June 14.
Police said drugs and alcohol were involved.
Relatives reported the 14-year-old girl missing, and she became the focus of an Amber Alert. She turned up at the Eastern Michigan University police department the following day, and both men surrendered to authorities.
Art Aisner is a freelance writer for AnnArbor.com. Reach the news desk at news@annarbor.com or 734-623-2530.
Comments
Anonymous Due to Bigotry
Sun, Apr 18, 2010 : 3:14 p.m.
I'm not surprised in the least that these guys are 25. It turns out that most violent crime (including rape) is committed by males who are 25 and younger. It's also not surprising in the case of statutory rape. The average age difference in statutory rape cases (that is, 50% of cases) is 6 years. In 99% of cases the perpetrator is under 30. In the 2 or 3 times that I've spoken to a teenage girl about some guy "acting weird" on the internet, the girl has always assumed that it's a "40 year old guy", probably because it's those extreme cases that get most of the media attention. I hope parents will educate their kids that they really need to be more suspicious of people in their early 20's since that's who the perpetrators are most of the time. (oddly enough, it turns out that the average age of a female perp is something like 2 years older on average than male perps).
stonecutter1
Sat, Apr 17, 2010 : 11:08 p.m.
These two would make excellent priests!
amlive
Sat, Apr 17, 2010 : 10:17 p.m.
I honestly don't know where I stand here, but this seems to be at least a somewhat awkward point in terms of ethics in journalism. Anonymity of the victim or accuser in a rape case is fairly standard I assumed, and though I may be incorrect I believed was certainly a rule for minors? In a situation like this, though the victim's name is not directly mentioned in this article, prior articles related to this amber alert (and naming these offenders) clearly name her and show her photograph to the public. Seems like a shaky and rather sensitive area when sexual crimes involving minors are covered. Though I assume this doesn't cross any legal thresholds, I do at least hope that the AANews is consciously and carefully considering their choices in how events like this are covered.
clara
Sat, Apr 17, 2010 : 7:05 p.m.
MPRI was started in Michigan in 2005 and in Washtenaw County in 2006. Not all prisoners qualify fro MPRI. OTIS is a fair source for State of Michigan only criminal convictions if still active in the system. The Department of Corrections started eliminating expired cases from OTIS. A better source, which one must pay for is ICHAT but you have to pay $10.00 a search.
ezbngreen
Sat, Apr 17, 2010 : 6:50 p.m.
MPRI information can be found on Mi.Gov website it appears the program was launched back in 2005 and meetings as to it's structure and goals were discussed back in 2003.
oldrustynail
Sat, Apr 17, 2010 : 6:38 p.m.
The individual with the criminal record in this story was discharged in 2007. I don't think the Michigan Dept. of Corrections started the MPRI until after 2007. Does anyone know for sure?
ezbngreen
Sat, Apr 17, 2010 : 6:15 p.m.
When has a 25 year old not been able to spot the difference between someone over 18 years of age and those under 18 years of age? A simple check of i.d's maybe to start. Oh wait drugs and alcohol were involved: Not surprised. Maybe the MPRI program didn't work for them? It appears that at least one of the usual suspects has spent quite a bit of time in MDOC look at his 7 previous prison sentences on OTIS. Just goes to show that he is as he has been. Unimproved and not fit for return to society.