Douglas R. Lloyd, Eaton County Prosecuting Attorney, announced today that on October 31, 2019, Damon Earl Warner, formerly of Olivet, was sentenced to Twenty (20) to Forty (40) years in prison after his conviction for Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 1st Degree.
Warner was convicted on September 17, 2019, by an Eaton County Jury. The Jury found Warner guilty of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 1st Degree while finding him not guilty of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 2nd Degree after a trial presided over by 56th Circuit Court Judge Janice K. Cunningham. The trial was the second time that a jury had found Warner guilty of crimes related to the sexual assault of a minor child. In June of 2017, an Eaton County jury returned a guilty verdict for Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 2nd Degree but was unable to reach a verdict as to a charge of Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 1st Degree. In March of this year, the Michigan Court of Appeals reversed the conviction for Criminal Sexual Conduct in the 2nd Degree based on a missing jury instruction and remanded the case for a new trial.
During the sentencing hearing, Eaton County Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Adrianne Van Langevelde commented that anyone who sat through the trial saw the real Damon Warner, a person who sexually assaults children and then threatens them. It is amazing the victim had the courage to tell the police what he did to her.
Eaton County Prosecutor Douglas R. Lloyd said, “My office is dedicated to working diligently to make Eaton County a safe place for all its citizens, especially our children. The verdict and sentence insure that an individual who sexually assaulted a child will be removed from our community for the next twenty years.” Prosecutor Lloyd thanked the Detectives of the Eaton County Sheriff’s Office for their investigation of these crimes, which led to the convictions.
Eaton County Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Adrianne Van Langevelde and Senior Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Kelly Morton prosecuted the case. Warner was represented at trial and sentencing by Ann Arbor attorney William Amadeo.