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Witnesses statements describe years of alleged crimes by Ingham County Prosecutor

March 15, 2016
Deputy Amber Hinojosa,left, Attorney General Bill Schuette, and deputy Gene Wrigglesworth address the press on March 14. 2016 at the William Building on 525 W. Ottawa Street in Lansing. Schutte talked about charges for an Ingham county prosecutor.
Deputy Amber Hinojosa,left, Attorney General Bill Schuette, and deputy Gene Wrigglesworth address the press on March 14. 2016 at the William Building on 525 W. Ottawa Street in Lansing. Schutte talked about charges for an Ingham county prosecutor. —
Photo by Kelly vanFrankenhuyzen | and Kelly vanFrankenhuyzen The State News

In an affidavit filed with the Ingham County Sheriff Department, six female witnesses described their encounters with alleged criminal Ingham County Prosecutor Stuart Dunnings III.

The affiant, Ingham County detective Amber Kenny-Hinojosa, was assigned to the joint federal-state investigation involving Tyrone Smith, the pimp of the prostitution ring Dunnings was allegedly involved in.

During the investigation she interviewed six women. Five of the women were former or current prostitutes under the command of Smith, and the sixth was never at any time a prostitute.

The names of the witnesses were withheld and they were instead referred to individually as W-1, W-2, W-3, W-4, W-5 and W-6.

Dunnings was handed down 15 criminal charges by Attorney General Bill Schuette, including 10 misdemeanor counts of engaging in the services of a prostitute, 4 misdemeanor counts of willful neglect of duty and one felony charge of enticing a woman who had never been a prostitute to commit commercial sex acts.

From the investigation Dunnings allegedly paid for sex hundreds of times, spending thousands of dollars during the course of five years.

In the affidavit, witness one, or W-1, a regular heroin user during her alleged time with Dunnings, was a prostitute who solicited her services through the website Escort Vault. In the spring of 2010, Dunnings paid her $200 for sex at the Red Roof Inn in Lansing. Throughout the course of the next five years W-1 and Dunnings allegedly met for sex three to four times per week in various Lansing area motels and hotels.

Dunnings also paid W-1’s rent and provided financial help to her for other things outside of commercial sexual acts.

Witness two, or W-2, allegedly met Dunnings through W-1 after Dunnings asked W-1 to arrange sex with him and two women. The three of them had paid sex thereafter.

Furthermore, W-2 was also a prostitute on the site Escort Vault when she allegedly began paid sex with Dunnings at various Lansing area locations. During the course of his time with W-2, which accounted to more than an alleged 200 times of paid sex, he allegedly told her he was the Ingham County Prosecutor and paid her hundreds of dollars each time.

Dunnings also allegedly paid for W-2’s expenses, namely clothing, cell phone bills, membership at the YMCA and for her heroin addiction. Furthermore, Dunnings allegedly paid W-2’s bail through W-2’s mother after W-2 was arrested for possession of drug paraphernalia.

In 2014, Dunnings allegedly contacted witness three, or W-3, through the website backpage.com, where the two engaged in commercial sex an estimated five times for $200 each time. The two allegedly contacted via phone and text and she would call Dunnings at his office number occasionally. If W-3 didn’t return calls or texts, she would be beaten by her pimp.

During her alleged encounters with Dunnings, she was then introduced to his brother Steven Dunnings. She then learned of Steven Dunnings' job as an attorney and of Dunnings' title of Ingham County Prosecutor.

It was also discovered that during her alleged relationship with the Dunnings brothers, W-3 was a heroin user and had visible bruising from being beaten by her pimp.

Dunnings' involvement with witness four, or W-4, began when she and W-3 met him at the Magnuson Hotel in Lansing for paid sex. W-4 learned of Dunnings' title during the alleged second paid sex encounter between the two. W-4 was beaten regularly and heavily by her pimp.

Witness five, or W-5, allegedly met Dunnings through Backpage.com and engaged in commercial sex just once. Dunnings paid $150 for the 15 minute encounter, which took place in Holt, Mich.

The heaviest charge, the felony, brought forth against Dunnings involved witness six, or W-6. W-6 was involved in custody dispute with her child’s father and allegedly reached out to Dunnings hooping to find assistance.

Dunnings allegedly met with W-6 two times for lunch and during the second meeting Dunnings sought a sexual relationship with W-6 in which he would pay her to help her out financially. W-6 did not agree right away, but ultimately realized that if she denied his request, she wouldn’t receive help from Dunnings.

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After agreeing to Dunnings' request the two began a relationship where Dunnings paid her $600 every two weeks when they met for paid sex. W-6 allegedly received gifts from Dunnings and he paid some of her bills.

W-6 also stated she had never engaged in commercial sexual acts prior or after her encounters with Dunnings. 

Affidavit in Support of Complaint

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