teRPENING law passed moves to snyder's desk

December 13, 2012

Attorney for convicted child predator Michael Terpening, Thomas Schaeffer, today made the point, but for the authority relationship between Michael Terpening and most of his victims, the conduct would be entirely legal in Michigan as the age of consent is 16.

Today the Michigan Legislature presented to Governor Snyder a bill to apply to foster parents and other caregivers the same penalties teachers now face for having sex with their students.

Michael Terpening, a married man with 5 adopted and 3 biological children, did not date these young men. He asked the State of Michigan for the most difficult sexually abused kids, he picked them from the Michigan Adoption Resources Exchange website, where kids available for adoption appear and he brought them to his group home where they lived with his strange cacophony of friends and family where they became his victims.

As the attorney for the Michigan Attorney General pointed out, these are kids who often suffered their entire lives with adults who harmed them. As they came close to aging out of the system in need of real support they ran into the likes of Michael Terpening and his family.

In February 2012, Senator Rick Jones introduced legislation to amend the law to apply penalties to foster parents and care workers just as it applies to teachers. His bill passed December 5, 2012 and was transmitted to Governor Snyder today.

Click here to see the progress of this legislation!