‘Father figure' sexually assaults girl while dating her mother, Michigan cops say
A 34-year-old was convicted of sexually assaulting his girlfriend's teenage daughter, Michigan prosecutors said.
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A 34-year-old man was found guilty of sexually assaulting a teenage girl while he dated her mother, Michigan prosecutors said.
'Questionable acts' by David Ryan Sampson of Flint occurred while the girl and her mother lived with him, Genesee County prosecutors said in an April 7 news release. The girl was under 10 years old when this behavior began, officials said.
When she was a teen, Sampson would give the girl marijuana and alcohol, then sexually assault her, prosecutors said. The assaults occurred at the man's home and in public areas such as a lake.
County Prosecutor David Leyton said the mother's boyfriend 'took advantage of a young girl who had looked up to him as a father figure,' according to the news release.
The situation came to the forefront in 2022, when a friend's father overheard the victim confide in her friend about the sex acts with her mother's boyfriend, officials said. The father asked the teen, at the time sitting in the back seat with his daughter, who was involved in the assault, prosecutors said. The teen named Sampson.
Authorities and the girl's mother were notified, and Sampson was eventually convicted of three counts of criminal sexual conduct involving a victim between the ages of 13 and 16, officials said.
Leyton's sentencing is scheduled for May 2. Prosecutors say he faces up to life in prison.
Flint is about an 80-mile drive northwest from Detroit.
If you have experienced sexual assault and need someone to talk to, call the National Sexual Assault Hotline for support at 1-800-656-4673 or visit the hotline's online chatroom.
Kate Linderman
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Kate Linderman covers national news for McClatchy's real-time team. She reports on politics and crime and courts news in the Midwest. Kate is a 2023 graduate of DePaul University and is based in Chicago.
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