LANSING – A package of bills aiming to strengthen penalties for criminal sexual conduct convictions in Michigan passed in the state House of Representatives on Wednesday.
The legislation — introduced by state Reps. Donni Steele (R-Orion Township), Ann Bollin (R-Brighton Township), state Rep. Alicia St. Germaine (R-Harrison Township), Mark Tisdel (R-Rochester Hills) and Tom Kuhn (R-Troy) — would establish minimum prison sentences for first, second and third-degree offenses, and allow life sentences for second and third degree CSC convictions. It would also make fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct a felony.
“These are not minor offenses,” Steele said in a news release shared by House Republicans on Wednesday. “The victims of sexual violence can carry the physical, emotional, and psychological consequences of these crimes for the rest of their lives. Michigan’s criminal justice system must make clear that these crimes will be taken seriously and that those who commit them will be held accountable.”
Steele used a May 2026 assault case out of Orion Township as a prime example of why harsher penalties are necessary for criminal sexual conduct cases.
During the incident, a woman was shot in the hip during a random carjacking outside a shopping plaza while she was with her young son. The suspect, identified as a 25-year-old Ann Arbor man, was on probation at the time for a previous assault during which he allegedly duct-taped and hog-tied a woman to a bed before briefly suffocating her and threatening her with sexual violence.
The investigating agency had sought an assault-with-intent-to-murder charge, Steele says, but the suspect ultimately received a lesser charge and probation rather than prison time.
“This is exactly the kind of egregious crime this legislation is designed to address,” she added.
The bills will now head to the Senate for consideration.
