51-year-old Michigan foster father raped child and now faces 15 years in jail after wife saw the act LIVE
MUSKEGON, MICHIGAN: A former Michigan foster care provider whose wife secretly filmed him raping a child has pleaded guilty to his charges and will spend more than a decade behind bars.
Mark Sorenson, 61, of Norton Shores, Michigan, came to the attention of the authorities after his wife, Stacey Sorenson, 51, reported his crimes after she filmed them, according to MLive. Both had been foster care providers and Court Appointed Special Advocates (CASA) for child victims of abuse and neglect.
Stacey Sorenson saw her husband raping one of the children in their bedroom via live streaming of a security camera. She watched it occur on her phone, but instead of reporting it to the police as is required from her because of her position as a CASA advocate, the 51-year-old deleted the recording. "She closed the program on her phone and continued her day at work," a court document states.
But 10 days later, she once again saw Mark Sorenson raping the child via live streaming video. This time, she waited for a day and then went to Norton Shores police to report the abuse. Her husband was immediately arrested and charged.
Mark Sorenson will likely serve at least 15 years in prison after he pleaded guilty to two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct that pertained to the sexual penetration of a victim under the age of 13 earlier this week.
While he faced the prospect of spending life in prison, Muskegon County Circuit Judge Timothy Hicks agreed to a minimum sentence not to exceed 180 months or 15 years. He will be officially sentenced on March 4.
Stacey Sorenson, on the other hand, did not escape punishment for her complacency and was in court last month to face her charges.
She was convicted by a jury of felony tampering with evidence and failure to report abuse, with Muskegon County Assistant Prosecutor Heather Bloomquist stating during her sentencing that she left the victim "alone in the home for 11 days with (her) rapist, and nothing was done to take steps to prevent any further sexual assault."
Bloomquist also pointed out that Stacey Sorenson had admitted on the stand to not reporting the abuse the first time because "she used this child as bait to try to catch her husband in this act".
A judge eventually sentenced her to a year in jail for tampering with evidence and one day in jail for failing to report abuse but granted her daytime release from jail so she can work. She has since filed for divorce.