BELANGER

NEGAUNEE – Negaunee resident Carsen Belanger, 18, is accused of taking exploitative pictures of and sexually assaulting a woman last year.

Belanger is charged with eight felonies: three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct-personal injury, four counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct-personal injury and one count of capturing/distributing an image of an unclothed person; says the case report from the Marquette County Sheriff’s Office. For each first-degree felony Belanger faces imprisonment for life or for any term of years and to be registered as a sex offender; for each second-degree felony Belanger faces up to 15 years in prison; and for the capturing/distributing crime Belanger faces up to five years in prison and or a $5,000 fine.

The case report received from the Sheriff’s Office was released after The Mining Journal put in a request for public records and was processed under the provisions of the Michigan Freedom of Information Act. Much of the case report is redacted, specifically the mention of Belanger’s name, the sheriff’s department cited the reasoning as, “public disclosure of the information would constitute a clearly unwarranted invasion of an individual’s privacy.”

The victim was 19 years old at the time and Belanger was 17 at the time of the report in July 2024. The case was first investigated when the victim went into Bell Hospital requesting a sexual assault kit be done on her, and claimed the assault happened early that morning. A month later, DNA was collected from the assault kit, and Belanger, his phone and social media accounts were searched by the Michigan State Police Computers Crimes Unit. By April, multiple photos of a match to the victim were found on the phone, and the DNA collected from the sexual assault kit matched Belanger to the victim.

A warrant was issued for Belanger by chief prosecuting attorney Jenna Nelson and magistrate Felicia Savola a few days after the DNA match. Two days later, on April 17, Belanger was arrested in the Negaunee High School parking lot.

Belanger is scheduled for a preliminary exam hearing at 9:30 a.m. on May 28. Alex Berger from Berger Law will be representing Belanger, with Nelson prosecuting.

Antonio Anderson can be reached at 906-228-2500, ext. 550. His email address is aanderson@miningjournal.net.