MACOMB COUNTY, Mich. – A Brighton man is behind bars accused of sexually abusing a 13-year-old boy.
It’s not often you hear about a $1 millon cash bond, and even if the defendant were to come up with that, he’d still have to wear a GPS tether and not have contact with the alleged victim. That’s the level of concern this case has caused.
Jason Ryan Norton, 40, faced first degree criminal sexual conduct charges at his Zoom arraignment Friday. He stood in the Macomb County Jail while the magistrate worked from the 38th District Court in Eastpointe.
The prosecutor said Norton drove 50 miles from Brighton to the child and took him back to Brighton and sexually assaulted him.
Prosecutors noted it’s one charge in a long string of incidents that landed Norton behind bars and put him on the Michigan State Police sex offender registry. He pleaded guilty to possessing child pornography and other sexual assaults on minors in Pontiac and in the U.P. in cases dating back to 1998, when Norton was 18.
A not guilty plea was entered for him as he stood silently. He is expected to return to court in September.
More: Metro Detroit crime news