Repeat Child Molester Gets A 15 Year Term

Abuse charges lead to 15-year term
James Robinson Ruple Jr. denied sexually abusing three girls he was accused of forcing to have sex with him when they were as young as 5 years old.

An Adrian man described by a judge as “an uncontrollable pedophile” was given a maximum prison term Thursday with a recommendation the Michigan Department of Corrections keep him behind bars a full 15 years.James Robinson Ruple Jr., 39, denied sexually abusing all three girls he was accused of forcing to have sex with him when they were as young as 5 years old.

In a plea agreement reached Oct. 3, Ruple pleaded no contest to one count of second-degree criminal sexual conduct involving a single incident with one girl in August 2006. Thirteen other charges involving the alleged abuse of two other girls as long ago as January 1999 were dismissed.Mothers of two of the victims complained about the plea bargain in addressing the court at Thursday’s sentencing before Judge Timothy P. Pickard.“It’s not fair,” said the mother of one girl. According to the terms of the plea agreement, she said, her daughter is no longer legally recognized as a victim. All of the girls were willing to testify at a trial, she said.“We would have proved this is what he did, that he’s a monster,” she told the court. Ruple should never be allowed to be around children again, she added.

Ruple apologized for the single offense he was convicted of, but refused to acknowledge the other offenses he is accused of committing.“I take full responsibility for my actions in this case,” Ruple told the court. “I’m not going to take responsibility for the other ones because I’ve done nothing to take responsibility for.”Defense attorney David Goldstein of Ann Arbor argued the court should not consider the other claims made against Ruple in sentencing him.“Those claims are false,” Goldstein said. Witnesses were prepared to testify for Ruple to dispute those claims, he said. The offense he is convicted of was a one-time incident, he added, saying there is no evidence of any long-term abuse.
Pickard said he reviewed information gathered in a presentence report covering all the allegations.“The court does find that these other events took place based on a preponderance of the facts,” Pickard said.There is evidence of a fourth victim in a statement by one of the mothers that Ruple also had sex with her when she was 15 years old, Pickard said.The three girls and two mothers all spoke before the sentence was handed down.“I’ve had nightmares ever since he attacked me,” said the victim in the case Ruple was convicted in.Another girl said she was first abused when she was 5 years old and that it continued for years after that.

The third victim said Ruple first assaulted her in a portable toilet when she was 13 years old and that he continued forcing her to have sex over the next six years.“I know this is something I’m never going to forget or get over,” she told the court.One of the mothers said they were all concerned Ruple would escape the punishment he deserves because of the plea bargain he was given.“We just feel he deserves to feel the pain our children will feel the rest of their lives,” she said.

Pickard said facts in the case, including the victims’ statements, justify exceeding state sentencing guidelines that call for not more than a six-year minimum prison term. Ruple is “an uncontrollable pedophile,” Pickard said, and “will continue to behave in this fashion.”He handed down the maximum 10- to 15-year prison term available for the second-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction.“It is the court’s desire in this case that the defendant spend the entire 15 years in prison,” Pickard added. That recommendation will be made to the Department of Corrections, he said.Ruple was given credit for 476 days he has spent in jail since his arrest in August 2006