Judge Issues New Ruling In Case Of Teen Ordered On Sex-Offender Registry for 25 Years

Updated at 10:30 a.m.

The Michigan judge who made national headlines when he ordered an Indiana teen on the sex offender registry for 25 years for having sex with an underage girl he met on a dating app has set aside his original sentence.

Zach Anderson, of Elkhart, IN, was 17 when he had consensual sex with a Niles, MI, girl, who was 14, but had told him she was 17. Anderson was arrested and charged after the girl’s mother reported her missing.

Berrien County District Judge Dennis Wiley came under harsh criticism for ordering Anderson, now 19, on the sex offender registry and imposing jarring limits on where he can live, his Internet usage and other conditions. Both Anderson’s parents and the girl’s mother pleaded with the judge not to punish Anderson.

The breach stems from a plea agreement in which Anderson would have been eligible for sentencing under Michigan’s Holmes Youthful Trainee Act. It allows first-time offenders between the ages of 17 and 21 to avoid harsher penalties – like a 25-year listing on the sex offender registry – and get a chance to have their records expunged.

The judge’s decision to set aside his earlier ruling, announced Tuesday, doesn’t mean he will go easy on Anderson.

“The Defendant exploited the victim for his own selfish purposes,” Wiley wrote, according to a Michigan Radio report. He said it was “not a boyfriend/girlfriend dating relationship, but a one (1) time sexual encounter between strangers where the victim was obviously underage, developmentally and emotionally immature and easily manipulated by the Defendant for his own sexual gratification.”

Patch’s Earlier Reports:

• Teen Ordered To Register As Sex Offender For 25 Years
• Tens of Thousands Support Teen on Sex Offender Registry for 25 Years
• New Judge Possible for Teen on Sex Offender List for 25 Years

In the original sentence, Anderson was ordered to register as a sex offender in both Indiana and Michigan for 25 years.

A new bond hearing for Anderson, who has already served 90 days in jail, will be held at 1 p.m. Friday at the Berrien County Courthouse in Niles, according to the Justice 4 Zach Anderson Facebook page.

The teen’s conviction still stands.

“It’s not over,” Lester Anderson, the teen’s father, told the South Bend (IN) Tribune, “but it’s a step.”

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Photo via Justice 4 Zach Anderson Facebook page