KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – The sexual assault case involving former Fabius Township Supervisor Kenneth Dwyane Linn has been bound over to Kalamazoo County Circuit Court.
The 57-year-old Linn is charged with four counts of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct which is punishable by up to life in prison.
A preliminary hearing in the case was held this week in Kalamazoo County District Court.
It is alleged that Linn assaulted a woman in 2010 while she was physically helpless due to extreme intoxication and unable to give consent, resulting in physical injury.
The alleged assault took place following a golf outing.
Linn was charged in October following a Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative.
A sexual assault nurse exam (SANE) was performed the following day. During the exam, the registered nurse collected samples from the victim and preserved them in a sexual assault evidence collection kit.
The victim’s sexual assault kit (SAK) was not submitted to the Michigan State Police Forensics Lab until December 2014. It was ultimately returned to the Portage Police Department untested in late January 2015.
In 2016, as part of the state-wide Sexual Assault Kit (SAK) testing initiative, the Portage Police Department submitted the victim’s SAK to Sorenson Forensics Lab in Salt Lake, Utah for DNA testing. In October 2021, Kalamazoo SAKI received approval from the MSP Forensics Lab to resubmit the victim’s SAK for further testing. The results of that analysis led to charges against Linn.
Since 2013 the Michigan Legislature has appropriated funds to the Attorney General’s office for the purpose of investigating and prosecuting cases that arise from previously untested sexual assault kits. For fiscal year 2023, the legislature again appropriated money to the Attorney General’s office to provide funding to SAKI projects in Kalamazoo, Calhoun, Ingham, Jackson, Washtenaw, and Wayne counties.
Special Assistant Attorney General Erin House will prosecute the case against Linn.
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