Following rulings last week on pre-trial motions, a hearing has been set for a Cleary University student facing sexual assault charges following a dorm room incident in February of 2022 on the college’s Genoa Township campus.
20-year-old Dylan Louis Sokol of Commerce Township faces two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct — force or coercion.
Court records show a motion hearing was held last Thursday in Livingston County Circuit Court in which Judge Suzanne Geddis rejected a defense motion to preclude a particular jury instruction that testimony from the complainant need not be corroborated if it proved guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. However, Judge Geddis granted another motion precluding improper hearsay testimony.
According to previous testimony from Livingston County Sheriff’s Detective Jason Davis, the reported assault occurred Feb. 7, 2022 in a dorm room on the university’s campus. Det. Davis said Sokol and the woman were watching a movie in a dorm room at about 1:30 a.m. when she says they kissed. The woman reportedly didn’t think anything of it, but says that when she refused Sokol’s request for sex, he allegedly sexually assaulted her.
Sokol, through his attorney, has denied the charges. He is free on bond pending a May 12th pretrial hearing.
If convicted, Sokol faces up to 15 years in prison.
