FILE - In this Feb. 26, 2018, file photo, Roman Catholic priest Robert Deland is arraigned via video on various criminal sexual conduct charges from the Saginaw County Jail in the courtroom of Saginaw County District Judge M. Randall Jurrens in Saginaw, Mich. The 72-year-old Michigan priest has been sentenced to two to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to sexual misconduct. The Rev. DeLand also will spend five years on probation under the sentence handed down Thursday, April 25, 2019. (Jacob Hamilton/The Saginaw News via AP, File)
SAGINAW, Mich. – A 72-year-old Michigan priest has been sentenced to two to 15 years in prison after pleading no contest to sexual misconduct.
The Rev. Robert DeLand also will spend five years on probation under the sentence handed down Thursday.
The Saginaw County prosecutor's office has said the plea entered last month closed three remaining cases after he was acquitted in a different case. DeLand pleaded no contest to second-degree criminal sexual conduct causing injury and gross indecency between males. Some charges were dropped.
DeLand was accused of having inappropriate sexual contact with males ages 17 and 21.
A no-contest plea means DeLand didn't contest the evidence.
DeLand was pastor at St. Agnes Church in Freeland until his arrest in February 2018. He also regularly mixed with students at Freeland High School.
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