COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – A night custodian with the Union City Community Schools faces multiple drug, weapons, and criminal sexual conduct charges after police searched his home north of Coldwater and seized multiple electronic devices.
According to a news release from Branch County Sheriff Fred Blankenship, Ray Charles Zierle was arrested and arraigned Friday after a search warrant had been executed at his home at 356 Bidwell Road.
In searching the electronic devices, deputies say they uncovered explicit conversations between Zierle and a minor child. They say further investigation revealed Zierle had been engaged in an ongoing sexual relationship with the minor.
Due to the presence of weapons at his home and the nature of the crimes, Blankenship says deputies arrested Zierle at Union City High School during non-school hours when no students were present.
Zierle is charged with four counts of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and two counts of Third Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, as well as Accosting a Child for Immoral Purposes, Delivery/Manufacture of a Controlled Substance, and several weapons charges.
He is currently being held in the Branch County Jail on a $50,000 bond.
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