Dentist Strikes Deal After Sex Convictions Are Overturned
LANSING, Mich. (AP) - A Lansing-area dentist has pleaded no contest to child abuse, months after his sexual assault convictions were thrown out by the Michigan appeals court.
Wendell Racette will face no additional prison time, under the deal. He's already served three years in prison.
Racette was accused of sexually assaulting a boy between 1996 and 2000 at his office. He came forward in 2010.
In 2012, the dentist was convicted of 15 sexual assault charges, but the appeals court said Racette didn't get a fair trial. The court said witnesses who portrayed him as a "wicked man" probably swayed the jury.
Prosecutor Lisa McCormick says the plea deal is a "just result." But the victim tells the Lansing State Journal it's a "miscarriage of justice."
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