FABIUS, Mich. — Sexual assault charges were filed by the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative (SAKI) against the Fabius Township supervisor on Wednesday.
The charges were announced by Attorney General Nessel and the Kalamazoo Prosecuting Attorney Jeff Getting in regards to an incident in 2010.
Kenneth Dwyane Linn, 57, of Three Rivers, was charged with four counts of First Degree Criminal Sexual Conduct for allegedly assaulting an individual while they were extremely intoxicated and unable to give consent. If convicted, Linn could face life in prison.
The alleged assault took place in August of 2010 after Linn attended a golf outing at Sauganash Golf Course in Kalamazoo County.
The victim reported the alleged incident the next day where a sexual assault nurse exam (SANE) was performed on the victim and samples were collected and stored in a sexual assault kit (SAK) to be processed at a lab.
The SAK wasn't submitted to the Michigan State Police Forensic Lab until December of 2014, where it was never tested and ultimately returned to the Portage Police Department in January of 2015.
One year later, in 2016, the SAK was submitted to a forensics lab in Utah as part of the statewide SAK testing initiative to have untested kits finally get properly processed.
The SAK still sat in the forensics lab for about five years before finally being tested in 2021.
“Too many victims of sexual assault have waited years to see charges filed in their cases,” said Nessel. “I am proud to partner with the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor on this important work and I am committed to see justice delivered for these victims.”
“The Kalamazoo Office of the Prosecuting Attorney is fortunate to have the support of the Attorney General and the Michigan Legislature, which allows us to continue to prosecute these important cases,” said Getting.
Just in the last few years, communities have discovered that tens of thousands of sexual assault forensic evidence kits had never been sent in for testing.
SAKI was created to help work through the massive backlog of untested sexual assault kits in Kalamazoo County. The initiative was part of a nationwide effort to find and process these kits.
A pre-exam conference for Linn is scheduled for Nov. 3 and a preliminary examination on Nov. 10.
If you or someone you know has information about Linn’s alleged criminal behavior, please contact SAKI Investigator Richard Johnson at 269-569-0515 or rajohn@kalcounty.com.
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