KALAMAZOO COUNTY, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – Tuesday, Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting announced that a sentencing has been secured against a Coldwater man convicted of Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct.
The case was investigated with assistance from the Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI).
It concerns 29-year-old Brad Allen Risner, who was sentenced by Judge Pamela Lightvoet to between 10 and 22 years in prison. Risner also faces additional charges in Jackson and Calhoun County arising out of SAKI investigations.
The conviction in this case stems from a 2013 sexual assault. The Kalamazoo SAKI team began investigating the case in 2016, leading to charges being issued in 2019.
Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the case was delayed until Risner entered a guilty plea in August 2021.
Prosecutor Jeff Getting issued the following statement:
“The conviction and sentence would not have happened without the effort and support of many people. First and foremost, I want to thank the brave victim who came forward to face the man who raped her. Without her courage we would not have been able to prosecute this case.
Secondly, the ongoing financial and other support of the Attorney General’s Office. Dana Nessel has been a champion of the SAKI effort since the beginning. Her support provides the
Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office with the extraordinary financial resources that it takes to investigate and prosecute these cases. Lastly, I want to thank the victim advocates, legal assistants, and investigators that work behind the scenes to make these cases happen. They work hard every day in order for us to succeed.”
Attorney General Dana Nessel had announced charges against Risner last year, and issued the following statement regarding the sentencing:
“Today’s sentencing serves as a reminder that we remain committed to securing justice for survivors who long thought they would never see their abuser held accountable.
I’m proud of the work done by the Kalamazoo SAKI team to secure this conviction and I will continue to support the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor’s Office in this important initiative.”
The victim in the Kalamazoo County case reported the assault in 2013, but the sexual assault forensic evidence kit was not submitted for testing. Nessel says this is because the case was deemed “he said, she said,” according to an official statement.
In 2016, as part of the state-wide testing initiative, the kit was tested and identified Risner as the suspect. Officials say Risner was the known suspect from the beginning.
During the course of the Kalamazoo County SAKI investigation, investigators identified ten other women who had been sexually and/or physically assaulted by Risner between 2005 and 2018.
Most of these crimes had never been reported to police prior to the Kalamazoo SAKI investigation.
The Jackson and Calhoun county charges resulted from information learned during the Kalamazoo SAKI investigation.
Risner is scheduled for trial in Jackson beginning September 28 on one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct for a 2010 sexual assault.
Risner is charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in Calhoun County for sexual assaults committed in 2006.
That case is not yet set for trial.
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