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Charles Pugh Arraigned, Held On $500K Bond In Child Sex Case

DETROIT (WWJ) - Former Detroit City Council President and Fox 2 anchorman Charles Pugh has been ordered held on $500,000 bond, arraigned Tuesday on child sex charges.

Pugh, who appeared via video at 10:30 a.m. in Detroit's 36th District Court, is charged with six counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct (three first degree, three third degree), accused of molesting a 14-year-old boy more than a decade ago.

He was arrested at his home in Harlem, New York, on June 23 and extradited back to Michigan last week.

WWJ's Mike Campbell reported Pugh smirked when the prosecutor alleged that may be a flight risk.

Asst. Prosecutor Danielle Bennetts called Pugh a flight risk, arguing that he should remain behind bars.

"I think any strong argument he had as to ties to the community no longer exist; they existed three years ago, judge," she said. "There's no other way to say it: It was a secretive departure from the state of Michigan when he left three years ago, never to return."

WWJ's Mike Campbell reported Pugh smirked a bit during Bennetts' comments. Other than that, the 44-year-old spoke only his name, looking straight forward with little facial reaction during the proceedings.

No 10 percent bond was set. Pugh did not have an attorney present.

According to Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy, the alleged offenses occurred between September 2003 and May 2004. The alleged victim, now 27-years-old, met Pugh for the first time when he was with a theater group that performed at Fox 2 while Pugh was working at the station.

It's alleged that Pugh engaged in inappropriate sexual contact with the teen — how 27 years old — whom he kept in touch with by phone and text message, multiple times at his apartment.

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 was elected to the Detroit City Council in 2009 but abruptly quit in 2013, disappearing to New York when allegations surfaced. Push later said he was embarrassed.

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