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Topic: Crear case-Blame the Victim attack in Judge race

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untanglingwebs
El Supremo

Notorious Flint sex abuse case surfaces in northern Michigan race for judge

Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com By Ron Fonger | rfonger1@mlive.com
on October 30, 2014 at 3:00 PM, updated October 30, 2014 at 3:02 PM



MLive.com file photo

FLINT, MI -- After nearly two decades, one of Flint's most notorious sex abuse cases has resurfaced in an unlikely place -- a campaign for a judgeship 200 miles north of here.

Mary Beth Kur, a former assistant prosecutor in Genesee County and candidate for Charlevoix County Circuit Court judge, has been targeted by an internet blogger who is questioning her character and judgment -- not as a prosectuor, but as a crime victim.

In the blog and anonymous fliers, Kur has been identified for the first time as one of the young sex abuse victims of George Crear III, a former Flint School District band instructor convicted of five counts of criminal sexual conduct in 1997.

Kur and other former students testified against Crear at the time of his trials but had never been identified despite heavy news coverage previously.

Kur has been accused in a blog of having done "nothing to stop a pedophile from abusing other girls" because she didn't immediately report the molestation, which started when she was a junior high student, according to federal court records.

In a leaflet, her picture and Crear's prison mug shot have been shown side-by-side under the headline "Bizarre Love Triangle."

Kur said the issue being brought up so many years after the conviction is "so wrong on so many levels."

"I never thought I would need to address it," said Kur, who testified against Crear in criminal cases in Michigan and in Florida after graduating from Flint Central High School in 1981.

"My boys knew, but my daughter ... had no idea this had happened to her mother," Kur said. "Nobody knew. It was an intensely personal, private thing."

Just this month, after she saw anonymous fliers that also raised questions about her involvement in the Crear case circulated at a community festival in Charlevoix, Kur addressed the issue on her campaign Facebook page. She called the attacks against her "disgusting and vile."

Her opponent in the Nov. 4 election has also called the campaign against her "ugly" and "totally inappropriate."

"I've gone out of my way to steer clear of these individuals," said Roy C. Hayes, who is running against Kur for the circuit judge's seat. "I wouldn't do that to anybody."

The Flint Journal-MLive could not reach a representative of the "The Pretty Lie or The Ugly Truth" blog by phone to verify email comments, but a posting on the blog site says it did not produce the fliers that also raise questions about Kur's involvement in the Crear case.

The blog does ask questions like, "Did she (Kur) do enough to stop this person?" and "Could she have done more?"

Kur was one of many victims of Crear, according to former Genesee County Prosecutor Arthur Busch, who recently wrote a "To Whom It May Concern" letter in defense of Kur.

Busch was prosecutor at the time of the Crear convictions in 1997.

"Justice would have never been served upon convicted sex offender George Crear had it not been for the assistance and determination of Mary Beth Kur and the other victims," Busch wrote. "Ms. Kur bravely took the witness stand and told the jury about the most humiliating of crimes against her."

Already a local scandal, the Crear case became national news after a Freedom of Information Act request from The Flint Journal showed that the Flint Board of Education agreed to let Crear purge his personnel file of negative material when the board accepted his resignation.

The agreement came after Crear had been accused of sexually assaulting three students in Flint, and as he agreed to leave his job in exchange for officials purging his record and not disclosing the allegations against him.

He started teaching in Flint in 1973, came to Whittier Middle School in 1976, and transferred to Flint Central in 1983, but also continued to work at Whittier as well, according to federal court records.

Crear resigned in Flint and was hired by the Dade County (Fla.) school district, where he was also accused of having sex with several students.

A Miami jury acquitted Crear of the charges in Florida, but Busch's office convicted him of five counts of criminal sexual abuse, three of which were felonies, here.

Now 63, Crear is serving life in prison at the Harrison Correctional Facility.

Busch called the political attack against Kur "bizarre and perverse."

"Mary Beth Kur was a victim who reported it and did what she could do to bring it to light," Busch said. "To get people to testify is very difficult to begin with ... especially with sex crimes.

"She was very courageous."

The area media in Charlevoix County has mentioned the attacks on Kur.

Kur said she addressed the issue rather than ignore it as the "love triangle" story circulated partly because victims of crime should not be victimized a second time.

She said she's considering her legal options against those responsible for the case resurfacing.

"This is bigger than who wins the election," she said. "It's so wrong on so many levels."

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Post Fri Oct 31, 2014 7:48 am 
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