Man convicted of raping 12-year-old girl given joint custody of her child

PORT HURON, MI (WTVD) — A convicted sex offender in Michigan was granted custody of a child who was conceived in the rape of a 12-year-old girl nine years ago.

According to WVEC, 27-year-old Christopher Mirasolo was awarded joint legal custody and shared parenting time of the now 8-year-old boy following a paternity test.

However, Mirasolo’s lawyer, Barbara Yockey, said the issue is being resolved privately, adding that Mirasolo will not accept custody.

“He’s not going to attempt to see the child, no,” Yockey said.

The victim’s attorney, Rebecca Kiessling, said Mirasolo – who was 18 at the time – lured the victim, her 13-year-old sister, and a friend into his car and took them to a vacant home where he held them captive for two days before releasing them.

Inside the home, Mirasolo forcibly raped and threatened to kill the victim, Kiessling said.

Mirasolo pleaded guilty to attempted third-degree criminal sexual conduct and was sentenced to one year in jail.

He served roughly half the time before he was released to care for his sick mother, Kiessling told The Detroit News.

Records show in 2010, Mirasolo was convicted of third- and fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct of another child and served four years in jail.

Kiessling said this case is an example of why laws need to be changed to terminate the parental rights of rapists, WVEC reports.

“First of all, a rape victim should not have to be tethered to her rapists for 18 years,” Kiessling said. “She deserves to be fully protected from her rapists, as well as the child. Secondly, we’ve had several women in our organization conceived in rape, and their biological rapist fathers used visits to molest them as well. Someone who raped is unfit to be a parent, they don’t respect basic boundaries, so they shouldn’t be a parent. You also shouldn’t be able to benefit from your crime.”