GRAND RAPIDS, MI - The man who kissed and fondled a client at a home for mentally disabled adults got a plea deal that saves a severely disabled client from having to testify in court.
Stacey Rendil Smith pleaded guilty to two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct for kissing and fondling a 29-year-old man at the David's House Ministries, a cluster of care facilities for developmentally disabled and traumatic brain injured adults and their families located south of Burton Street and Clyde Park Avenue SW.
The plea to the high-court misdemeanor came Monday, June 1, in Kent County Circuit Court where 45-year-old Smith admitted to kissing and reaching into the pants of a man in a wheelchair he was helping with range of motion activities exactly one year earlier.
Police report that Smith said he was helping adjust the man's catheter, although that was not part of his job. The victim claims that Smith touched his private area and kissed him without the victim's consent, according to police.
Administrators at the facility dismissed the worker immediately upon learning of the allegation and aided police in the investigation, according to Ann Brafford, director at David's House.
She said Smith was not directly employed by the home, but was part of a contracted service agency that provides employees.
Smith was charged in October with two counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct which carries a maximum sentence of 15 years in prison.
Related: Worker at home for mentally disabled adult charged with sexually assaulting man
But Assistant Kent County Prosecutor Kevin Bramble said the family of the victim believed testimony for the man suffering from development and cognitive disabilities would be extremely traumatic and difficult because the victim has difficulty communicating.
Fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct is the least severe of the CSC statutes, carrying a maximum time behind bars of two years.
Smith, a Wyoming resident, is free on a $10,000 personal recognizance bond. He is scheduled to be sentenced July 22 by Judge George Buth.
E-mail Barton Deiters: bdeiters@mlive.com and follow him on Twitter at twitter.com/GRPBarton or Facebook at facebook.com/bartondeiters.5