A new trial has been ordered for an Iron River man serving a 30- to 50-year prison sentence for a first-degree criminal sexual conduct conviction involving a 10-year-old boy in July 2021.

Albert Lawrence Shumate is entitled to a new trial because the prosecutor in Iron County Circuit Court erred by questioning him regarding his sexual identity and his preference for pornography involving transgender and gay men, a Michigan appeals court said in a decision released Thursday.

“The prosecutor improperly attempted to connect the crime committed against the minor victim to societal stereotypes regarding gay or otherwise non-heterosexual men as sexually deviant,” the court said. “There is no connection between a defendant’s sexual orientation and the sexual abuse of children.”

Shumate had been sentenced to the prison term as a fourth habitual offender. He was also convicted of accosting a child for immoral purposes and sentenced to 46 months to 180 months imprisonment.

He argued in his appeal that evidence of his sexual orientation and pornography preferences was irrelevant, impermissible character evidence and that it was admitted at trial in violation of Michigan court rules.

Michigan 2nd District Court of Appeals judges Sima G. Patel, Michelle M. Rick and Kathleen A. Feeney ruled unanimously to remand the case to Iron County Circuit Court.