*The top prosecutor in Ingham County, Michigan, was arrested Monday on allegations of patronizing prostitutes hundreds of times in a five-year period.
According to People.com, Stuart Dunnings III was arrested after a 2015 investigation into a Michigan-based human trafficking ring (that Dunnings himself worked on) allegedly turned up evidence against him. He’s charged with 10 counts of engaging in services of prostitution, four counts of willful neglect of duty and one county of pandering, a felony.
Prior to his arrest, Dunnings was well-known for his advocacy against prostitution and human trafficking, Ingham County Sheriff Gene Wrigglesworth tells People.
Per People.com
According to the documents, Dunnings allegedly first paid a woman for sex in the spring of 2010, when he allegedly reached out to a prostitute on the website Escort Vault. He allegedly continued to see that woman for five years, during which time he also saw other women for sex, the documents state.
Six women spoke to authorities during the investigation into Dunnings. Sheriff Wrigglesworth says authorities believe there are more women out there who are too afraid to talk against the powerful prosecutor.
Most of the women Dunnings allegedly had sex with were beaten by their pimps and addicted to heroin, according to arresting documents. In one instance, according to the documents, Dunnings allegedly took a prostitute to a Narcotics Anonymous meeting after she told him she had a drug problem.
He also allegedly bought the women clothes, paid their phone bills and gave them money for shopping, according to the documents.
Dunnings is charged in three Michigan counties: Ingham, Clinton and Ionia. He has been charged with pandering, which can send him to prison for 20 years, for allegedly coercing a woman into prostitution, Sheriff Wrigglesworth tells PEOPLE.
The woman, who remains unnamed, went to Dunnings for advice with a custody suit she was having with the father of her child. Dunnings allegedly took her to lunch and said he would help her if she had sex with him.
“Dunnings, III noted that he was aware that [the woman] was struggling financially, and said that he had a proposition for her,” the document state. “He was seeking a sexual relationship with her, and that he would pay her money in return.”
Dunnings brother, Steven Dunnings, has also been charged with using prostitution services. Both Stuart and Steven Dunnings have pleaded not guilty to the charges against them.
Stuart Dunnings, a father of three, has been the county prosecutor since January 1997.
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