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Teens testify Catholic priest sexually assaulted them in school, church
By Cole Waterman
SAGINAW, MI -- For the second time this week, a 17-year-old boy testified the Rev. Robert J. "Father Bob" Deland sexually assaulted him. A teen who had testified Wednesday in a separate matter against DeLand retook the witness stand the afternoon of Friday, April 27, during two preliminary examinations. DeLand, 71, is a priest in the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw. On Friday, the teen testified he had known DeLand as a hall monitor at his high school. In 2017, the teen had pleaded guilty to a charge of minor in possession of alcohol and was court-ordered to perform 25 hours of community service, with DeLand supervising. The teen said on Nov. 16, DeLand took him out of class, something atypical of a hall monitor. DeLand took him to another room and gave him $20 and hugged him, the witness testified. "As we were walking out of the room, he put his hand on my back and slid his hand down to my butt," he said, adding he felt, "very uncomfortable and very angry. I wanted to punch him in the face." The teen said he didn't recall if he said anything to DeLand. By the time this allegedly occurred, the teen had already made a complaint against DeLand to Tittabawassee Township police and had agreed to help them in their investigation, something he testified to in detail on Wednesday. Questioned by defense attorney Alan A. Crawford, the teen on Friday said he was not equipped with a recording device when DeLand allegedly touched his buttock in the school. The hearing ended with Saginaw County Assistant Prosecutor Melissa Hoover asking Saginaw County District Judge David D. Hoffman to bind DeLand over to Circuit Court on a charge of second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury. She argued when DeLand allegedly touched the teen's buttock, it was "most certainly done for sexual gratification or sexual purposes." Hoffman obliged and bound the case over to the higher court for trial. Second hearing In a subsequent hearing Friday, the same teen testified he and DeLand had discussed marijuana, pills, psychedelic mushrooms, and ecstasy. DeLand asked him about acquiring such substances, saying he wanted to smoke pot with him, the teen said. The teen said DeLand gave him $100 to buy ecstasy, with the plan being that the teen would ingest the substance at DeLand's home. The teen added he did not actually buy the drug, but that police gave him imitation ecstasy pills, he said. The teen texted DeLand a photo of one of the pills and DeLand suggested he keep it to ensure the teen wasn't caught with it, he said. The night of a later sleepover date at DeLand's condo at 29 Mallard Cove, the priest returned the pill to him, the teen testified. Tittabawassee Township Police Detective Brian J. Berg testified he had instructed the teen to enact a ruse whereby he acted high on Xanax while in the priest's presence on Feb. 22 and to "make the vague statement that there were a lot of pills going around." The purposes of the ruse was to see how DeLand would react to such a scenario. Instead of counseling the teen against using illicit substances, he continuously brought up the drugs, Berg said. On Feb. 23, the teen met with DeLand in a supermarket parking lot and gave a counterfeit ecstasy pill to him, Berg testified. With a tracking device already in place on DeLand's vehicle, investigators determined he had driven from a rectory to the spot, the detective said, adding he personally surveilled the parking lot exchange. About 8 p.m. on Feb. 25, DeLand picked up the teen and took him first to a rectory, then to a party store, then to his Saginaw Township condo, Berg said. While at the rectory, DeLand asked the teen if he wanted to take the pill then, but they decided he would take it at DeLand's home, Berg said. At DeLand's residence, the teen feigned taking the pill. From there, DeLand repeatedly asked the teen what he was experiencing and reiterated his love for him, the detective testified. The interaction was recorded by a device on the teen, with police posted nearby and a search warrant ready to go. "We thought if Father Bob was going to sexually assault or take advantage of (the teen), we wanted it to happen under a controlled environment where we could do something about it," Berg said. "We also wanted to see if (DeLand) would do the right thing and not have him take that pill of ecstasy." Defense attorney Crawford asked Berg if he ever had the teen enact a ruse that would lead to DeLand having him do something positive. Berg replied he did not. "I wanted to give Father Bob the opportunity to do the right thing or do the wrong thing," the detective said. Crawford then asked if Berg wanted to dictate or control the conversations between the teen and DeLand. Berg replied he meant to control the beginning of their conversations and to see how DeLand would proceed. "This whole investigation simply planted a seed and gave total opportunity on how it was carried out by Father Bob himself," Berg said. "He had two paths to go, and it was simple as that. He continually chose the wrong path. We were really hoping Father Bob would not commit any crimes. Everyone liked Father Bob and nobody wanted this, including myself, to be true." After Berg testified, Judge Hoffman bound DeLand over to Circuit Court on a charge of distributing an imitation controlled substance. Third hearing An 18-year-old male said he was familiar with DeLand as he was a hall monitor at his high school, but he properly met him through his father who works for the Catholic Diocese of Saginaw. DeLand would often make him uncomfortable, he said. "When he would shake my hand, a lot of the times he wouldn't let me go. I would try to pull away sometimes and he would just hold on a little longer than I was comfortable with." DeLand would also hug him and talk closely into his ear, the teen said. The teen said in May 2017, he and his father attended a community event conducted by DeLand at St. Agnes Catholic Church, 300 Johnson St. in Saginaw. At DeLand's request, the teen accompanied him into a coat room in the church. "He reached in for a handshake like he always does," he said. "He didn't go in for a regular handshake; he went in a little lower than I'm used to. Between my legs a little bit, down there, in that area." The teen said DeLand's palm was up and he reached toward his penis, but he moved slow enough that the teen was able to block him. "I saw it and it was more of an instinct for me to grab the hand," the teen said. "I felt like I was in danger. I felt very upset, angry. I didn't understand what was happening or why." The teen said he left the room and sought out his dad and asked to leave. Assistant Prosecutor Hoover asked the teen if he is still affected by the incident. "I had a dream the other night that I was fending off Father Bob trying to touch me," he said. "It affects me, it does." Questioned by Crawford, the teen said he never told DeLand or school staff that he made him uncomfortable. He said he told his mom and friends, though. After the teen concluded his testimony, Hoover called his father to the stand. The dad's testimony matched his son's that they attended an event at St. Agnes Church in May. The two separate in the church, but a short time later, his son approached him in a hurry, he said. "He said, 'We have to leave now, Dad.' I said, 'Why?' and he said, 'We just gotta go.' He wouldn't tell me until we got to the car. "How did I react?" he said, repeating the prosecutor's question and getting emotional. "I wanted to go and confront him and take care of this situation, there and then. My son told me to calm down, (which) is why he waited so long to tell me." After news broke of DeLand's Feb. 25 arrest, the father called police, he said. After the father stepped down, Hoover asked the judge to bind DeLand over to Circuit Court on a charge of assault with intent to commit second-degree criminal sexual conduct. Hoffman granted the prosecutor's request. On Wednesday, the 17-year-old subject testified he wore a recording device provided by police during interactions with DeLand. He testified that on Feb. 25, DeLand massaged his feet, back, and chest, touched his buttocks, and touched his hand as the teen used his hand to cover his penis. Also on Wednesday, a 22-year-old man testified DeLand had sexually assaulted him on Aug. 7 inside DeLand's condo. He said the two were drinking tequila before he blacked out and regained consciousness several times, once to DeLand kissing him and another to both of them standing with their pants around their ankles, with no memory of how they got that way. Wednesday's two hearings ended with Hoffman binding DeLand over to Circuit Court on charges of second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury, attempted second-degree criminal sexual conduct, and gross indecency between males. DeLand's next courts are pending. In the meantime, DeLand is free on bond, but under house arrest. Contact: cwaterma@mlive.com
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