BATTLE CREEK, MI (WTVB) – A 57-year-old Coldwater man accused of soliciting underage girls in two counties for sex has pleaded guilty.
Walter Rodger Ward Jr. entered the guilty pleas June 24 in Calhoun County to one felony count each of accosting a child for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime.
As part of the plea, his sentences will run concurrent with his pending sentencing in an identical case in Jackson County.
Sentencing is scheduled for September 8 before Calhoun County Circuit Judge John Hallacy. The maximum punishment for both felony charges is four years in prison and or a fine of $4,000.
According to the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Department, investigators received information regarding a man who was allegedly soliciting underage girls for the purpose of sexual assault. Through the course of the investigation, detectives identified Ward as the suspect who had arranged to meet what he believed to be an underage girl.
Ward was arrested February 13, 2025. He had been arrested three months earlier under identical circumstances by the Blackman-Leoni Township Public Safety Department in Jackson County.
He also pleaded guilty in the Jackson County case. Sentencing in that case is set for September 3 before Jackson County Circuit Judge John McBain.
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