Judge: 'Improper charges' vs. Walcott

GRAND RAPIDS, Mich. (WOOD) - The Grand Rapids man and sex offender accused of having inappropriate contact with boys' feet won't face charges for accosting a child for immoral purposes.

Benjamin Walcott would be released from jail Thursday, but now he will face charges in Ionia County and remain in custody pending the outcome of his arraignment in district court. He is accused of violating the state statute for working in a student safety zone as a convicted sex offender.

Walcott attended his preliminary hearing in Kent County district court Thursday, where the judge said the 28-year-old's charges didn't fit his crime. He was charged in April with two counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes.

The facts needed for his particular charges were not presented by Mike Cox's office, Judge David Buter said.

"There were any number of proper charges that which could have been appropriately brought," he said. "They may have been less punitive in terms of penalty provisions than this one."

Accosting a child for immoral purposes -- a four-year felony -- requires prosecutors to prove several things, including gross indecency and sexual assault, Buter said, adding Cox's office simply didn't make the case.

"Specifically looking at the terminology used in the statute, I don't think that this is the proper charge to be brought," Buter said.

During testimony, two football players said Walcott asked them to do different things with their feet, including crush toy cars while he videotaped it.

"I just thought it was kind of fishy why we were doing that," one of the boys said.

AG Mike Cox's office will likely appeal the decision to drop Walcott's charges.

But Walcott's attorney agrees with Buter.

"(It) might be weird (and) might be be creepy," Defense Attorney Patricia Eppler said. "(But it's) not criminal."

Asked 24 Hour News 8: "Having said that, is your client a danger to society?"

"Well, I mean, I can give you my opinion -- I don't believe so," Eppler said.

In a 2001 case, he was accused of using his influence as a sports coach or leader to lie to young boys and get them to show Walcott their feet.

Parents contacted Ottawa County investigators that year and complained Walcott found reasons to have the boys bare their feet.

During that time, he often would videotape the children doing various things with their feet, such as playing with toys or stepping on objects.

Walcott admitted to investigators he lied to the boys. But two prosecutors decided he didn't commit any crimes.

Walcott had come close but hadn't "crossed that line," according to an Ottawa County police report.

The next year, in February 2002, he was convicted of two counts of fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct in Kent County, which placed him on the sex offender registry. In order to get around the registry and continue to work at camps and with children, he started using the alias Benjamin Albright.