GAYLORD, Mich. – A former Michigan teacher has been sentenced after two former students told police that he sexually assaulted them when they were 12 and 14 years old.
Michigan State Police detectives said they were contacted in December 2018 by two former students of Grace Baptist School in Gaylord. They told police that they had been sexually assaulted by a teacher in 2002 and 2003, when they were 12 and 14 years old.
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Aaron Michael Willand, 45, was identified as the accused teacher. Willand worked for Grace Baptist School from August 2001 through June 2003 before moving out of state, according to authorities.
An Otsego County prosecutor reviewed the case and issued arrest warrants for Willand, who now lives in Arlington, Washington. He returned to Michigan in 2019 and turned himself in, officials said.
Willand was arraigned in 87th District Court on four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct of a person under 13, eight counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a person ages 13-15, and three counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person between 13-16.
Each second- and third-degree charge is a felony punishable by up to 15 years in prison. It also requires Tier III sex offender registration. The fourth-degree charges are high-court misdemeanors carrying a penalty of two years.
Willand was sentenced Friday (Oct. 14) to 11 years and three months to 40 years in prison.