SAULT STE. MARIE, MI— A Sault Ste. Marie man has been convicted of sexually assaulting a special needs individual while he was on parole for the same crime.
Arthur Laundry, Jr., 63, was found guilty last week of 3rd-degree criminal sexual conduct and 4th-degree CSC. He was accused of using predatory conduct to assault the victim in 2021.
At the time of the offense Laundry was on parole for the same crime against the same victim, perpetrated nine years before. The Chippewa County Prosecutor’s Office says the Michigan Department of Corrections granted him parole in 2020, and by April of 2021 he had gained access to the same person.
Laundry was also convicted of sexual assault in Chippewa County in 2004.
Prosecutor Rob Stratton says Laundry’s release is part of a disturbing trend where the MDOC is paroling violent and sexual offenders at the earliest possible moment. He says the Department is not obligated to release them but is doing so regularly. Stratton says that means the state will continue to see victimization of citizens as more violent offenders are returned unnecessarily to the streets early.
