Parolee arrested for 1st-degree CSC.

Cupps
– MDOC photo

By Allison Scarbrough. OCP Editor.

HART — A 38-year-old Hesperia man who was paroled from prison, Feb. 18, was arrested three days later by the Hart post of the Michigan State Police for a felony charge of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC).

Robert Eric Cupps, of 7524 E. M 20, is being charged as a fourth-offense habitual offender, according to his court file in 78th District Court.

His arrest stems from allegedly repeatedly raping a young girl who was 6 or 7 years old at the time in the Village of Hesperia in 2003.

Cupps was incarcerated in the Parnall Correctional Facility in Jackson for a conviction of felon in possession of a firearm, serving an April 8, 2014 Newaygo County sentence of one-and-a-half to 10 years.

The horrific details of the repeated sexual assaults of the young girl are outlined in a supplemental report from Newaygo County Child Protective Services that is attached to the police report in Cupps’ court file.

Cupps reportedly coerced the girl to perform oral sex and fondle his penis, often using a blindfold. 

According to the police report, Cupps took a polygraph test in April of 2015, and the results were “inconclusive.”

According to the Offender Tracking Information System (OTIS), Cupps has a previous conviction of surveilling an unclothed person in Oceana County and was sentenced to one year and six months in prison in August of 2010.

A preliminary conference in 78th District Court is set for April 11 at 3 p.m., and his bail was set at $10,000/cash/surety/10 percent.

The maximum penalty for first-degree CSC is life in prison.