CLINTON TOWNSHIP, Mich. (WXYZ) — A woman who says she was the victim of a brutal beating and attempted sexual assault while jogging on a high school track last September is now calling out the magistrate handling the case.
The woman who is not being identified because she’s an alleged victim, says a bond of 10% of $50,000 means the violent attacker could easily be back on the streets to harm someone else.
In part of a statement received by 7 Action News, a court administrator and spokesman for 41B District Court Magistrate Ryan Zemke, says, “We are unable to comment on specific proceedings pending before our court.”
Prosecutors have described the incident as a scary attack that could have ended far worse. They’ve said surveillance video & DNA evidence have helped locate the man responsible for the attack on the Chippewa Valley High School Track.
“I was training for an event, and I noticed the man coming closer and closer. He was wearing street clothes and had a cigarette in his mouth. He tried to remove my clothes and assaulted me, but I kept fighting and screaming until he ran away,” says the woman prosecutors identify as the victim.
Defendant Douglas Peterson has a history of exposing himself in public, and was at large for more than 6 months in this case. He’s charged with 2nd Degree CSC, and other charges with a maximum penalty of 15 years behind bars.
For now, he remains behind bars.
“It’s really important that the magistrate knows how dangerous he is and bold willing to do this in broad daylight, while I was alone at the track,” says his accuser.
