Kidnapping charge dropped for Higuchi

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An MSU instructor who was facing life in prison after having sex with a 13-year-old girl instead will be tried on charges carrying a maximum prison sentence of 15 years, a judge decided Monday.

East Lansing’s 54-B District Court Judge Richard D. Ball ruled that Takashi Higuchi, a 35-year-old Japanese citizen, instructor and resident in the College of Veterinary Medicine, will stand trial on three counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct, but dropped an additional charge of kidnapping during Monday’s hearing. The hearing was the second day of a preliminary hearing to determine whether there was enough evidence to bring the case to trial.

Higuchi and the victim — a Charlotte, Mich., girl he told police he thought was 18 years old — arranged an Oct. 10 meeting at the Charlotte Community Library after they met through online dating site passion.com. Higuchi drove the girl to his East Lansing apartment, where the two had sexual intercourse.

The charges against Higuchi previously included kidnapping, which raised the criminal sexual conduct charges to first degree, mandating life in prison.

During the first day of the hearing on Oct. 30, Ball said he wanted further analysis of the kidnapping charge. No force appeared to have been used to keep the 13-year-old from leaving and many details of the incident were not known, Ball said during Monday’s hearing.

“It troubles me that all we have on this record during that trip from Charlotte to East Lansing is, ‘I’m uncomfortable, I want to go home,’” he said.

Ball said he believed Higuchi thought he was dealing with someone much older than 13 years old who had given consent. The girl’s passion.com profile listed her as a 30-year-old looking for sex, Morgan said Oct. 30.

The girl said Oct. 30 she did not create the profile, but asked investigators not to further look into the matter.

During her encounter with Higuchi, the girl had her cell phone and was not denied use of it at any point, Ball said.

After Ball dropped the kidnapping charge, Higuchi’s bond was reduced from $350,000 to $100,000. Higuchi is required to post 10 percent of the bond to be released from jail.

His attorney, Joan Morgan, said in court she hoped Higuchi could make the bond in order to return to work at MSU, where he has a “tremendous amount of support” from many at the veterinary school. Morgan said she received about 25 letters indicating Higuchi’s good character.

“They are pretty much uniformly shocked by the charges here,” Morgan said.

Higuchi, who planned to complete his residency in July, has close ties to the community and no criminal history, she said. University spokesman Jason Cody said Higuchi remains suspended from the university with pay pending further decisions.

Cody would not comment further on Higuchi’s status at MSU.

Ball set several restrictions on Higuchi’s bond, including requiring him to give up his passport, forbidding him from contacting the victim directly or indirectly, using social networking sites or changing his residence without the consent of the court.

Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III said prosecutors would have been remiss not to seek a kidnapping charge, but it was a “gray area” in the case. He said he was not surprised by the judge’s ruling, but will review it to decide whether to appeal.

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