Robert Walter Muniz sentenced to 14 years for criminal sexual conduct

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Robert Walter Muniz will serve at least 14 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct in the second degree and child molestation.

Muniz, 53, of Mount Pleasant, could serve up to 22 and a half years. The incident in question took place in April and Muniz had relationships with multiple children, including sexual contact with one of the victims. He pled no contest to the charges in July.

Starting in 1984, Muniz served 25 years of a 30 year sentence for first degree criminal sexual conduct. He received nine major misconducts during that sentence. The April incident occurred only 10 months after his release from prison in 2009.

The suggested sentence for this kind of case falls between 29 and 71 months in prison, but Judge Mark Duthie handed out a harsher sentence to represent Muniz’s threat to children.

“When I consider all these factors, I don’t think the guidelines are adequate,” Duthie said.

Duthie said Muniz would buy children presents and treat them kindly, calling it a “grooming” behavior that is common with child molestation.

Both Duthie and Muniz’s attorney William Shirley said Muniz admitted that he does not trust himself around young girls.

The month-long investigation broke after a search warrant was obtained for Muniz’s home, and pictures of him and the victims were found.

“There’s many, many negatives with this case, almost too many to keep track of,” said Mark Kowalczyk, Isabella County principal trial attorney.

Kowalczyk said that the mother of the victim was possibly going to make a statement. She never showed up to the courtroom and neither did the victim.

“To his (Muniz’s) credit, he didn’t make the prosecutor’s office or the victims go through a preliminary examination or trial,” Shirley said.

While Shirley did not try to argue for the minimum sentence, they did bring up Muniz’s mental health history. He has been diagnosed with bipolar disorder and depression, and sometimes blacks out from his medicine. He had agreed to go to a mental health facility in Midland before his sentencing.

It did not play a factor in the sentencing, but Duthie said Muniz will have mental health help available to him while in prison.