Lawyer: Rapist Won't Seek Custody Of Victim's Child Under New Agreement

SANDUSKY, Mich. (WWJ) - In an update to a case making headlines across the nation, a judge has put a stay on an order granting custody of an 8-year-old boy to his mother's rapist.

There was widespread condemnation when Sanilac County judge Gregory Ross awarded Christopher Michael Mirasolo joint custody of the child born as a result of the sexual assault of a 12-year-old girl.

Mirasolo's attorney Barbara Yockey says the case is misunderstood, telling WWJ's Sandra McNeill in an interview Tuesday that Mirasolo — a registered sex offender — never sought custody of the boy.

The custody was part of an agreement reached for Mirasolo to pay child support after the mother applied for food assistance, Yockey explained.

She said both sides have now reached an agreement in which Mirasolo will give up custody, adding that Mirasolo won't seek a relationship with the child nor have any contact the mother, who is now 21.

"He is agreeing to not see the child; he's not asking to see the child; he's never asked to see the child; I've never filed a motion to request that he be able to see the child," Yockey stressed. "He did not pursue this. This was something that was entered by the court."

Yockey said her client will continue to pay $316 in monthly child support. Other details of the agreement are being worked out.

"He is complying with the order, because he's paying child support," Yockey added. "I will tell you that the matter is in the process is being resolved privately, which is exactly how it should've been resolved from the very beginning because there is a child involved here. It should've never been in the press."

The victim's attorney Rebecca Kiessling says her client was a child herself when she was raped by Mirasolo, who was 18 at the time. Kiessling called the judge's decision last week "insane," noting that the judge disclosed the rape victim's home address to her rapist, and ordered his name on the child's birth certificate — all without the mother's consent.

Yockey expects the new agreement to be approved by prosecutors and finalized at a hearing set for next week.