Christopher Mirasolo, Michigan Child Rapist, Granted Joint Custody Of Victim's Son

A Sanilac County Circuit judge has granted parenting time and joint legal custody of an 8-year-old boy to a convicted sex offender from Brown City, Michigan, who allegedly raped the boy's mother nine years ago.

The custody was granted by Judge Gregory S. after DNA tests established that 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo was the father of the child.

However, the victim’s attorney, Rebecca Kiessling, termed the decision "insane" and has sought protection under the Federal Rape Survivor Child Custody Act; a hearing is scheduled for Oct. 25.

The case was first heard on “The Steve Gruber Show,” a radio program based in Lansing, Michigan, and is believed to be the first of its kind in the state, and probably also in the country.

The victim, who chose to stay anonymous, and her attorney, Kiessling, maintain that the case was pressed after the victim was surveyed with regards to child support that she had received last year, the Detroit News reported.

According to Kiessling, Mirasolo was given the victim’s address and his name was added on the birth certificate without her client’s consent.

Reports also suggest that Mirasolo raped and threatened to kill the victim, who is now 21-years-old. The incident occurred in September 2008 when the victim was 12 and Mirasolo was 18.

Kiessling, who filed her objections Friday, expressed to the Detroit News her frustration on how the case was being handled.

She said, “This is insane. Nothing has been right about this since it was originally investigated. He was never properly charged and should still be sitting behind bars somewhere, but the system is victimizing my client, who was a child herself when this all happened.”

Kiessling was also unhappy with Mirasolo’s sentencing after the 2008 rape. Though Mirasolo was found guilty of third-degree criminal sexual conduct and sentenced to one year in jail, he ended up serving only six and half months and was granted an early release to care for his sick mother.

However, in March 2010, Mirasolo was once again convicted of a sex assault on a victim between the age of 13 and 15 years old. He served four years in prison for his second offense.

Speaking about what happenbed to her client in 2008, Kiessling said: “She, her 13-year-old sister and a friend all slipped out of their house one night to meet a boy and the boy’s older friend, Mirasolo, showed up and asked if they wanted to go for a ride,” said Kiessling. “They thought they were going to McDonald’s or somewhere.

“Instead, he tossed their cellphones away, drove to Detroit where he stole gas from a station and then drove back to Sanilac County, where he kept them captive for two days in a vacant house near a relative, finally releasing the older sister in a park. He threatened to kill them if they told anyone what happened.”

Mirasolo was arrested a month later, KIessling said, when her client was pregnant.

The Detroit News spoke to Mirasolo’s lawyer, Barbara Yockey, who refused to discuss her client’s past criminal cases or his future involvement with the boy.

“Chris was notified of the paternity matter and an order of filiation was issued last month by the court saying he had joint legal custody and reasonable visitation privileges. He never initiated this. It was something routinely done by the prosecutor’s office when a party makes application for state assistance. I don’t know what his plans or intentions might be regarding any future relationship with the child,” she said.