Hoskins sentenced on sex charges

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) -- Kenneth Hoskins stood before a judge and apologized to two teenage girls he had sex with, but the mother of one of those girls said she and her family are still trying to repair the damage.

"My whole family has been torn apart. And we're just trying to get it back together one day at a time," said the woman, who we are not identifying because her daughter is the victim of a sexual assault.

The lives of the two 16-year-old victims changed forever after the actions of the 32-year-old Hoskins. He was a trusted student advocate in the GRPS.

Apparently too trusted.

"He was a student advocate. The kids were there to talk to him. To be helped. And I think that he took advantage of that," one of the victim's mothers told the judge before he sentenced Hoskins to 3-15 years in prison.

The assaults happened in hotel rooms and at Hoskins' high school office last year. After his June arrest, Hoskins, the son of GRPS board member Kenneth Hoskins, was busted again in a South Division motel with one of the 16-year-olds.

That was in November. His bond revoked, Hoskins has been in jail since.

"I pray that one day they can find in in their hearts to forgive me," Hoskins told the judge in open court. "I'd also like to apologize to my family and their my loved ones."

He did have his supporters. Judge Dennis Leiber had a stack of letters, some from civic and political leaders, at least one from a school where he once worked.

Lieber read aloud. "Someone who says you'll always be welcome at Riverside Middle School." But he added, "He may not be as a result of his conviction."

The mother of the victim said she and her daughter are still in counseling, and that her daughter truly believes Hoskins loves her. The woman said Hoskins had an enabler -- his father.

"I think that his dad knew that he had an issue, I really think that. And I think that he should have done something other than put my son in GRPS so he can have sex with all these girls."

The elder Hoskins declined comment after the sentencing.

Kenneth Hoskins resigned that school job soon after allegations surfaced last June.