SEPARATED CSC CASES LAND TWO NILES MEN IN PRISON

    NILES – Two Niles area men have been sentenced to prison for molesting young girls.
Saul Arturo Mejia, 49, of Cedar Street in Niles, was found guilty of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and second-degree criminal sexual conduct after a late April jury trial in Berrien County Trial Court in Niles.
Monday, Mejia was sentenced to 135 months to 40 years in prison for first-degree criminal sexual conduct and a concurrent term of 71 months to 15 years in prison for second-degree criminal sexual conduct. He must register as a sex offender and be on mandatory lifetime GPS monitoring. He must pay $1,468 in fines and costs.
The molestation occurred between January 2011 and July 2016 at a home in Niles against a girl age 15.
Mejia is a native of El Salvador and came to the United States to live in 1989. He has worked for 14 years at the Modineer Company in Niles. With this conviction, he is subject to deportation back to his home country. He his appealing his conviction and his sentencing to the Michigan Court of Appeals.
The victim’s stepmother spoke before the sentencing and said the incident has affected the girl’s life. “This will affect her entire life and her relationships with men when she grows up,” the woman said. “She has had to make new friends and go to a new school. It will take her a long time to trust and believe in people again.”
The stepmother said the girl has been traumatized by the experience including the fact she has been called a liar by several of her family members.
Assistant Prosecutor Cortney O’Malley said the crime is in many respects worse than murder as it will affect the victim for the rest of her life. “There’s no escaping this, this will be with her every single day of her life,” O’Malley said.
Defense attorney Christie Ferguson said Mejia has had no history of criminal activity or substance abuse.
Berrien County Trial Judge Angela Pasula called it a “very sad offense” involving issues of family and betrayal. She noted that the victim’s childhood was violated by someone who was supposed to be her protector.
In Cass Circuit Court, a Niles man was sentenced to prison for sexually molesting a young girl over a four year period.
Michael Allen Mitchell, 25, of Pine Lake Street in Niles, pleaded guilty to five felony counts and was sentenced Friday in Cass Circuit Court to two terms of 16 to 50 years in prison, two terms of 11 to 20 years in prison and one term of seven to 15 years in prison. All prison terms are concurrent.
Mitchell must be on lifetime GPS monitoring after he gets out of prison. He was ordered to pay $1,970 in fines and costs and $1,473.20 in restitution. Further restitution could be ordered in the future. He has credit for six days in jail already served.
The 16 year prison terms were for two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child under age 13. The 11 year prison terms were for two counts of possession of child sexually abusive materials, while the seven year prison term was for one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct against a child under age 13.
The incidents occurred between 2012 and Sept. 21, 2016 at a home in Cass County. The molestation and other activities were done against a female victim from the time she was nine years old until she was 13.
“This was a four year nightmare for the victim,” Cass County Prosecutor Victor Fitz said. “For years she had to deal with something children should never have to deal with. She had to go into a defensive posture every night against the continuous sexual assault. There were no visions of sugarplums going through her head.”
“He took pictures of her in the shower,” he added. “This was the epitome of the depravity of many that she will have to deal with for the rest of her life. She is a very brave girl as she defended her siblings from what had happened to her. She has also protected other kids in the community with this sentence serving as a deterrent to others.”
Cass Circuit Court Mark Herman told Mitchell he should consider the plea agreement with the prosecutor’s office for a 16 year prison term a “blessing” as Herman would have handed down a longer prison term without it.
“You don’t consider it a blessing, but you should,” Herman said. “If it had been left to my decision, the prison term would be longer and consecutive.”