UPDATED: Cheatham pleads guilty to failing to comply with Michigan Sex Offender Registry Act
Former Central Michigan University wrestler David A. Cheatham pleaded guilty to failing to comply with the Michigan Sex Offender Registry Act Wednesday.
The 19-year-old Zeeland freshman was first registered as a sex offender at 14, when he was convicted in 2006 of second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person under the age of 13, according to Michigan's Public Sex Offender Registry.
"At the age of 13, I messed up, I hate that I have to still deal with the situation six years after it occurred," Cheatham said in a written statement to CM Life. "I live everyday wishing I can change it, but I cannot."
Judge Mark Duthie reduced the felony to a high court misdemeanor as part of the plea process.
Cheatham said he was sorry for the negative press this incident has generated for the wrestling team and the university.
"Competing in sports helped me succeed in other areas of my life. I started to do better in school and realized that I had a future," he said. "I came to CMU to be a wrestler and a student."
Cheatham, a resident at Tallgrass Apartments on Broomfield Road, also pleaded guilty of one count of possession of a stolen object worth less than $200.
He will be sentenced in Isabella County Trial Court April 4.
Watch cm-life.com for updates
