Teen Pleas For Reconsideration After Being Ordered On Sex-Offender List For 25 Years

Zach Anderson, 19, asked a Michigan judge Wednesday to grant his request for re-sentencing before a new judge. (Photo via Justice 4 Zach Facebook page)

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The teen at the center of a sensational case that landed him on the sex offender registry for 25 years for having sex with an underage girl who told him she was 17 pleaded for reconsideration in a Michigan court Wednesday.

Zach Anderson, 19, of Elkhart, IN, asked a Berrien County District Court judge to reconsider his sentence on a fourth-degree sexual assault charge and schedule a new hearing before a new judge.

The charge stems from Anderson’s arrest last winter after he drove 20 miles from his home to meet and have sex with a Niles, MI, girl he met on a dating app. The girl, who was 14 at the time, told him she was 17, but later admitted to authorities she lied. On the night they met, the girl’s mother reported her missing to police, who arrested Anderson two months later.

Judge Dennis Wiley – who has come under harsh criticism for ordering Anderson on the sex offender registry for 25 years and imposing jarring restrictions on where the teen can live, his Internet usage and other activities – said he would consider the request, but needed more time.

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

In the original sentencing, Wiley condemned a culture of “meet, hook-up, have sex, sayonara, totally inappropriate behavior,” according to court records.

Anderson and his family told WSBT-TV they were disappointed they didn’t get an immediate answer from the judge.

“We are patient people but my God, I want my son’s life back. I want him to be able to move on. They killed his college, his whole semester, they stripped that away,” Les Anderson, the teen’s father, told the television station. “He lost all that money, and we are just ready to move on.”

The teen’s attorney argued the prosecutor in their son’s case violated the negotiated plea, which would have made Anderson 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.

Anderson only pleaded guilty because he thought he was a candidate for the youthful offender program, according to earlier reports.

Wiley didn’t say how long he will take to rule on the request for a new judge and new sentence, but the Andersons hope it will be next week.