By: Brian Wells | Roseville-Eastpointe Eastsider | Published December 16, 2022
ROSEVILLE — A victim of a New York man who was convicted by plea agreement in October of two criminal sexual conduct charges dating back as far as the year 2000 in Roseville stated during the defendant’s sentencing Dec. 14 that, while the defendant had impacted his life in several ways, the victim would not let it control the course of his life.
“I will say I am grateful in a way. He has taught me everything I never want to be as a man, a husband and a father,” the victim said in a statement that was read during the sentencing. “He lost.”
Mark Chapman, 51, who served as a Boy Scouts leader in Roseville and was the first person to face charges as the result of an ongoing investigation into the Boys Scouts by the Michigan attorney general, was sentenced Dec. 14 by Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Kathryn Viviano.
Chapman pleaded guilty at a hearing Oct. 31 in front of Viviano. Originally, he was charged with eight counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct in two separate cases. The charges alleged that Chapman assaulted two victims while being involved in the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and the Boy Scouts of America.
As part of a plea deal, Chapman pleaded guilty in one case to one count of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a sentence of 12 to 20 years in prison, a lifetime registration on the state’s sex offender registry and electronic monitoring. He also pleaded guilty in the other case to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a sentence of 10-15 years in jail.
He was sentenced to those terms Dec. 14. They will run concurrently.
Chapman’s victims have not been identified. A spokesperson for the Michigan Department of Attorney General previously said that the department does not provide details regarding victims of sexual assault. But according to Assistant Attorney General Danielle Russo Bennetts, one victim was afraid that Chapman, when released, would kill him for going to the police.
“One of the things he said to me when we discussed the plea agreement is he said, ‘How can you assure me that, when he gets out on parole, he’s not going to come and kill me?’ … He says, as a grown adult male, he still has nightmares Mr. Chapman is going to come to his house and kill him because he had the audacity to tell the police what Mr. Chapman did,” Russo Bennetts said.
Samuel Bennett, Chapman’s attorney, said Chapman had been taking responsibility for his actions.
“I’ve gotten to know Mr. Chapman very well. He’s taken responsibility with the plea, as well as just talking to me. … He’s been through a lot of counseling already while he served a lot of time (in prison on child abuse convictions) in New York. He’s also dedicated to continuing his additional counseling in (the Michigan Department of Corrections),” Bennett said.
But while Bennett stated Chapman had a strong support system, Russo Bennetts argued that some of the people in his support system were telling Chapman that he was the victim.
“I don’t want him to think that today is happening to him, but today is happening because of him,” Russo Bennetts said. “I want Mr. Chapman to remember that, if there is a time at MDOC that he starts thinking that he is in fact the victim, or that these victims have put him there, I want him to remember truly the trauma that these boys that are now men, that these wounds that are still healing may never heal and have followed them into adulthood.”
Before imposing sentencing, Viviano said she hopes the time in jail will also serve as rehabilitation for Chapman.
“It is my hope that, during this period of time … it is punishment but also that you take the time for rehabilitation so that when you are released, you are not a danger to any other person or child,” she said.
Anyone with information about the Boy Scouts of America that might help investigators is asked to call the tip line at (844) 324-3374 between 8 a.m. and 5 p.m. Mondays through Fridays. Tips can be left anonymously.
Contact Staff Writer Brian Wells at (248) 291-7637 or bwells@candgnews.com.