CHARLOTTE — Former Delta Township Supervisor Ken Fletcher entered a guilty plea on Friday, Sept. 12 as part of a deal that he receive no up-front jail time in a case resulting from an internet child sex string.
Fletcher, 59, pleaded guilty to a count of using a computer to commit a crime, a maximum four-year felony, court records indicate. Prosecutors agreed to dismiss a count of accosting a child for immoral purposes.
He is scheduled to be sentenced in late October in Eaton County Circuit Court.
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Fletcher earned enough votes at the polls in the Nov. 5, 2024 election to take office again on Jan. 1, receiving nearly 89% of the votes cast, according to unofficial results. But he elected not to take the oath of office, and Fonda Brewer was appointed supervisor.
Fletcher, a Democrat who was first elected supervisor in 2008, resigned that post in September 2024 after being arraigned on the charges.
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Police alleged he “engaged in sexual conversations” on an LGBTQ+ social networking and dating app with an undercover detective posing as a 15-year-old boy. The sting operation was run by a regional internet crimes task force that includes the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office, Lansing police, Michigan State Police and Charlotte police.
Mike Nichols, whose law firm represented Fletcher, confirmed the terms of the plea deal on Sept. 12.
“A jury would have heard that Ken blocked the number (from the police decoy) and never even saw the last four text messages,” Nichols said. “I think that says everything you need to know about what his intent was. We had to hire an expert witness to find that out.”
Contact Ken Palmer at kpalmer@lsj.com. Follow him on X @KBPalm_lsj
This article originally appeared on Lansing State Journal: Ex-Delta Township supervisor Ken Fletcher reaches plea deal in child sex sting case
Reporting by Ken Palmer, Lansing State Journal / Lansing State Journal
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