Stuart Dunnings III. Photo courtesy of Fox 47.
Summary: A Michigan prosecutor has been arrested for coercing vulnerable women into having sex with him for money.
In another instance of “Thou doth protest too much…,” a Michigan prosecutor known for speaking out against prostitution has been charged with patronizing hookers. However, what makes this case insidious is not that he paid to get his rocks off, but that he allegedly preyed on vulnerable victims of human trafficking whom he was supposed to protect.
PEOPLE reports that Stuart Dunnings III, the top prosecutor of Ingham County, Michigan, was arrested Monday for paying for sex hundreds of times in a five-year period. Before his arrest, Dunnings was a well-known advocate against prostitution and human trafficking, and he worked on a large 2015 investigation into a human trafficking ring.
The prosecutor is being charged with ten counts of hiring prostitutes, one count of pandering, and four counts of willful neglect of duty. Dunnings is a father of three who has served in his elected position since 1997.
Several prostitutes cooperated with the investigation into Dunnings, and they claimed he helped them by taking them to Narcotics Anonymous meetings, paying their bills, or buying them clothes–all of which seems nice on the surface except he allegedly made them exchange sex for the assistance. It was found that most of the women he saw were beaten by their pimps or addicted to drugs.
Dunnings’ felony pandering charge stemmed from his coercion of a young woman who sought him out for advice in regards to a custody suit she was having with the father of her child. Dunnings allegedly took her to lunch, and he said he would help her if she had sex with him. Being low income and needing legal help, she obliged to his request for a relationship.
Dunnings has pleaded not guilty. In a press release, the state Attorney General Bill Schuette condemned the prosecutor.
If convicted, Dunnings could serve 20 years in jail and would become a registered sex offender.
Source: PEOPLE