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Charles Pugh Arrested, Charged With 6 Counts Of Criminal Sexual Conduct Involving Teen

DETROIT (WWJ) - Charles Pugh, former Detroit City Council president and media personality, has been arrested in New York in connection with the sexual assault of a teen boy that dates back 13 years.

The Wayne County Prosecutor's Office on Wednesday authorized an arrest warrant for Pugh on six counts -- three for first-degree criminal sexual conduct, three for third-degree criminal sexual conduct.

He was taken into custody at his home Thursday morning, according to prosecutors, and arraigned in Manhattan Thursday afternoon.

Prosecutor's office spokeswoman Marie Miller said Pugh will be extradited back to Detroit on the day of his next court appearance, set for Thursday, July 7.

Prosecutor Kym Worthy said the alleged offenses occurred between September 2003 and May 2004 when the victim, now 27, was 14- and 15-years-old. At the time, Pugh was working as a reporter and news anchor at Fox 2.

It's alleged that the victim met Pugh when he went to the news station with a theater group to perform.

"The complainant approached Pugh about an internship and they exchanged phone numbers," Worthy said in a statement. "The teen did not work as an intern at Fox 2, but during the summer of 2003, at Pugh's invitation the teen went to Pugh's Detroit apartment several times."

It's alleged that Pugh engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with the teen, whom he kept in touch with by phone and text messages, multiple times at his apartment.

Worthy said specific facts and evidence in the case will be presented in court at the preliminary examination.

"Despite what the defendant has meant to the City in the past, and the positive work he did here, we cannot and will not turn a blind eye to these alleged facts," she said.

The U.S. Marshall Service for the New York and New Jersey Regional Fugitive Task Force coordinated Pugh's arrest with the Detroit Fugitive Apprehension Task Force.

If convicted as charged, Pugh faces up to life in prison.

The charges are unrelated to a case involving a 17-year-old who sued and collected $250,000 from Pugh in a sexual grooming case. The young man said Pugh made sexual advances while serving as a mentor at Douglass Academy in 2012. The lawsuit claimed Pugh was given extraordinary access to boys, and that the school didn't do enough to protect students. The Detroit school district settled for $350,000.

Pugh was not charged criminally in that case. He abruptly quit city government in 2013 and moved to New York when allegations surfaced, later saying he was embarrassed.

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