Sex offender receives 20-60 year prison term.

Robert Cupps with his attorney, Timothy Hayes.

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By Allison Scarbrough. Editor.

HART — A 39-year-old Hesperia man was sentenced this week in 27th Circuit Court to 20-60 years in prison for a conviction of first-degree criminal sexual conduct (CSC) after repeatedly raping a young girl who was 6 or 7 years old at the time in the Village of Hesperia in 2003.

Robert Eric Cupps, of 7524 E. M 20, pleaded “no contest” to the charge last month.

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

Cupps, who received credit for 179 days served in jail, will be subject to lifetime electronic monitoring upon release from prison. In exchange for his “no contest” plea, a fourth-offense habitual offender designation was dismissed.

Cupps, who was paroled from prison Feb. 18, was arrested three days later by the Hart post of the Michigan State Police for the felony charge that carries a maximum life sentence.

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.

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.