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Battle Creek man accused of raping 8-year-old girl

The reported victim is now 17.
Credit: Trace Christenson/The Enquirer
Flanked by officers, Thomas Swarmes listens to testimony Friday, Sept. 14, 2018.

A Battle Creek man was ordered Friday to stand trial in a 10-year-old rape case involving an eight-year-old girl.

Thomas Swarmes, 34, is charged with five counts of criminal sexual conduct and is accused of raping a former girlfriend's daughter.

After hearing testimony Calhoun County District Judge Frank Line ordered the case sent to circuit court for trial. Swarmes faces up to life in prison if convicted.

The case is part of the ongoing Calhoun County Sexual Assault Kit investigations begun across the state by the Michigan Attorney General after officials found more than 1,800 untested rape kits.

The case is the seventh since Special Assistant Attorney General Michelle Richardson was assigned as a prosecutor in Calhoun County in 2016.

The reported victim, now 17, said she and her mother and brother and sister were moving from place to place to live and were staying with friends on Freedom Lane in November 2008.

She identified Swarmes as her mother's boyfriend and told Richardson, "I got raped by him. He forced me to do it with him. Sex."

She testified that Swarmes assaulted her twice that night and also while they were staying with a relative in Marshall.

A third instance occurred at the home of another family friend, she said.

She testified that Swarmes told her, "don't tell my mom and dad and if I did he would hurt me."

The girl told the family friend who then told the girl's mother.

The girl also told her mother, "and my mom didn't do anything about it."

The girl told defense attorney, Kim Wickham that her family friend, "cared more than my mom."

Attorneys Tracie Tomak, left, and Kimberly Wickham talk with Thomas Swarmes after a court hearing Friday, Sept. 14, 2018. (Photo: Trace Christenson/The Enquirer)

Laurcia Brown testified she allowed the family to stay with her for a couple of weeks and when the girl told her about the assaults and when the girl's mother did little, Brown moved the girl into her own bedroom because, "I feared for her safety."

Wickham argued against sending the case to trial because she said the girl was not credible. She cited as an example the conflicting testimony with Brown about where she slept while the family stayed there.

Wickman also said her client was being denied due process because the case should have been brought earlier.

But Line said he heard enough evidence to send the case to trial in the higher court. Swarmes remains in the custody of the Michigan Department of Corrections where he is serving a sentence for uttering and publishing from Kent County.

Contact Trace Christenson at 269-966-0685 or tchrist@battlecreekenquirer.com. Follow him on Twitter: @TSChristenson

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