COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – An alleged computer sex crime in Branch County last year has landed a Fremont, Indiana man behind bars on charges including the rape of a teenage girl.
19-year old Noah Stempien was picked up by Michigan State Police last Thursday at the Steuben County, Indiana jail in Angola and then booked at the Branch County Jail in Coldwater. Stempien was arraigned in Branch County District Court on six counts.
The first charge was 3rd degree criminal sexual conduct with a female victim age 13 to 16. There were 2 charges of possession of sexually abusive material and 2 charges of computer-internet communicate with another to commit a crime. The final charge was possession of marijuana.
A Branch County Corrections Officer at the jail said the arrest warrant for Stempien indicated the alleged crimes occurred in Ovid Township in 2016 between June and the end of the year. There was no news release on the arrest issued by Michigan State Police.
Stempien is being held on $50,000 cash or surety bond with a probable cause hearing in Branch County District Court set for August 15 and a preliminary exam scheduled for August 22, 2017.
