FeedsMolestation suspect faces 33 charges
A Westland man accused of molesting three boys is headed for trial after he waived his right to a preliminary hearing last Thursday at the 18th District Court.
There was little discussion in the courtroom of Judge Gail McKnight when Daniel Eric Greene, 39, told the court that he wanted to opt out of his preliminary hearing. The hearing essentially requires the prosecutor to prove to the court that there is sufficient evidence to justify a trial.
Members of the Westland Police Department arrested Greene on May 18. The department began an investigation after officers received a tip from a therapist that a young man claimed Greene had molested him from 2002 to 2005. Now in his late teens, the victim later told police that the alleged incidents began when he was a 13-year-old neighbor of Greene on Avondale near Merriman Road.
After executing a search warrant in Greene’s current home on Palmer Road on May 18, police officers reported finding a hidden room behind a closet filled with pornographic materials, much of it involving children. Among the materials recovered were a homemade pornographic video involving the teenage victim and videos featuring two other boys, later identified as the underage sons of a woman who rented living quarters in Greene’s home. According to the charges, the two boys were allegedly involved in sexual activities with Greene from July 2005 until May 2006.
Greene will face charges on 33 counts, including 11 counts of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree, 14 counts of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, and six counts of child sexually abusive activity. Greene, who was previously convicted of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree, also faces a felon in possession of a firearm charge and a felony firearm charge resulting from the discovery of a gun when the search warrant was executed.
On Thursday, McKnight said she felt that Greene was “a danger to the community” and cited his prior criminal record as she remanded him back to the county jail without bond to await his trial. He is scheduled to begin his trial activities on July 27 at Wayne County Circuit Court.
If convicted, each charge of criminal sexual conduct in the first degree would carry a penalty of up to life in prison, each charge of criminal sexual conduct in the second degree up to 15 years in jail, and each charge of child sexually abusive activities up to 20 years in prison.
