Michigan serial sexual offender sentenced for third time after rape kit investigation

LANSING, Mich. (WILX) - Brad Risner, 31, from Coldwater has been sentenced once again for sexual assault.

According to the Michigan Attorney General’s Office, Risner was charged by the Attorney General’s Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAK) team in Kalamazoo after testing an untested kit from 2013.

During the investigation, nearly a dozen other women came forward accusing Risner of sexual assault from 2005 to 2018.

The investigation resulted in Risner being convicted in Kalamazoo, Jackson and now Calhoun Counties.

On Friday, Sept. 15, Risner was sentenced to 15.5-30 years in prison in front of Judge Sarah Lincoln in Calhoun County. Risner pleaded no contest to two counts of 1st Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct (CSC) for raping a 15-year-old girl and friend of the family multiple times in 2007.

This is Risner’s third conviction. His sentences will be served concurrently among his other charges, the longest of which carries a 34-70 year prison sentence.

“The work of our state’s SAKI units is gravely important and the results reflect that,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “Through investigating cold case sexual assaults and testing untested assault kits, the SAKI team was able to identify a serial rapist who had walked free for years, creating more victims in his wake. The SAKI program proves time and again that bringing these dangerous criminals to justice only requires that we insist the work be done, and that talented investigators and prosecutors set out to do it. It is our hope that this conviction may provide hope to others that justice can be found in cold cases, and that there is a victim-centered and trauma-informed pathway available to them if they choose to seek it.”

Previously, Risner was convicted of one count of criminal sexual conduct for a 2013 assault in Kalamazoo County with 10-22 years in prison. He was also convicted of CSC in Jackson County for a 2010 assault, which comes with 35-70 years in prison.

The victim in the Calhoun County case read the following victim impact statement at his sentencing:

“I wore shame and scars. I felt broken and used. But now I am finally telling my truth because of all the pain I wear like a battle wound. I was filled with such doubt, guilt, insecurities, and anxiety. I lost myself. But now, because of you, I grew thick skin and I am stronger than I’ve ever been. I was broken and bruised, then I made my armor out of steel and you can never hurt me.”

The SAKI project began in 2016 and aims to test untested rape kits.

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