TRENTIN McWILLIAMS

IRON MOUNTAIN – A Norway man will spend eight to 15 years in prison for criminal sexual conduct involving minors.

Trentin Cody McWilliams, 24, was sentenced Monday in Dickinson County Circuit Court after earlier pleading guilty to two counts of criminal sexual conduct-third degree (person 13-15) and no contest to the charge of criminal sexual conduct-second degree (person under 13, defendant 17 years of age or older).

As part of a plea agreement, charges were dismissed on one count of criminal sexual conduct-third degree (person 13-15), two counts of criminal sexual conduct-fourth degree and one count of children-accosting for immoral purposes.

McWilliams is accused of sexually assaulting a child at a relative’s residence in 2018 and a 14-year-old girl in a vehicle in October 2022.

McWilliams’ attorney, Samuel Bennett, said McWilliams takes full responsibility for his actions and wanted to resolve the case without the victims having to testify in court.

“He acknowledged the impact this attack had on both of the girls and their families,” Bennett said. “There is no question Trentin made some horrendous decisions; he did not think through how they impact anyone else.”

Attorney Caitlin Kirby from the Michigan Department of Attorney General read statements from a victim and a victim’s family detailing the struggles that the girls have gone through since the incidents.

“Only after McWilliams was incarcerated did she start to feel safe again,” the victim’s family wrote in the letter.

Circuit Court Judge Christopher Ninomiya said while the court would take into consideration circumstances from McWilliams’ childhood that were beyond his control, he still needed to answer for his actions.

“These are crimes and offenses that typically haunt people for the rest of their lives, similar to how you were affected,” Ninomiya said. “You have done that to other people and you have to be held accountable for those decisions.”

Ninomiya gave McWilliams to eight to 15 years on each of the third-degree criminal sexual conduct counts and 86 months to 15 years for the second-degree criminal sexual conduct, with the sentences to run concurrently.

According to the Michigan Department of Attorney General, the U.S. Marshals Service extradited McWilliams from California in September as part of the ongoing Operation Survivor Justice. The operation is a partnership between the Michigan Department of Attorney General, local county prosecutors and the U.S. Marshals Service to locate, apprehend and return to Michigan fugitive offenders with outstanding sexual assault warrants.

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Jim Paul can be reached at 906-774-2772, ext. 85229, or jpaul@ironmountaindailynews.com.