Arrest made in sexual assaults

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A 28-year-old Lansing man faces up to 15 years in prison for two counts of sexual assault related to incidents that occurred within about an hour of each other on and near campus last week.

Benjamin Waltz has been charged with one count of second-degree criminal sexual assault, which carries a 15-year maximum prison sentence, and one count of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, which carries a two-year maximum sentence. He is being held on $500,000 bond at the Ingham County Jail.

Waltz was arrested near Michigan Avenue and Harrison Road at about 1 a.m. Friday after police responded to the second of two assaults in the area.

The first victim, an 18-year-old female student, reported to MSU police that she had been inappropriately grabbed by a man at 11:45 p.m. Thursday as she walked near West Circle Drive and the Union, MSU police said. The victim was not injured.

She didn’t report the assault until 1:30 a.m., about a half hour after Waltz’s arrest. Her description of the suspect matched Waltz’s appearance, MSU police Sgt. Florene McGlothian-Taylor said.

The second victim, a 19-year-old female student, told police she was approached by the suspect at about 1 a.m. as she walked to the door of a residence on the 300 block of North Harrison Road, East Lansing police Lt. Kevin Daley said.

The victim told police the suspect showed her a knife, made a derogatory remark and ripped her shirt before he fled, Daley said. The second victim later identified Waltz as the man who assaulted her, Daley said.

Immediately after the second assault, Waltz was arrested by MSU police as he walked along Michigan Avenue. A knife was found in his possession, Daley said.

“From the course of our investigation, it was determined that ours and (East Lansing police’s) was the same guy,” McGlothian-Taylor said.

Neither victim was injured during the two assaults.

Waltz is a registered sex offender who has spent three months in jail and served 18 months probation for gross indecency, according to an Osceola County court clerk. The incident took place in 1999 in Hersey, Mich., about 100 miles northwest of Lansing.

Gross indecency carries a maximum sentence of five years in prison, but Waltz agreed to a plea deal and received a lesser sentence.

The Osceola County Sheriff’s Department, which investigated the crime, didn’t have records available detailing why Waltz was arrested.

A pre-trial hearing for Waltz has been set for 8:30 a.m. on April 7 at East Lansing’s 54-B District Court. A preliminary examination is scheduled for 1 p.m. on April 9 at the same location.

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