Person of Interest in Mary Lands Disappearence on Trial for Raping Teen
The lone person of interest in the 2004 disappearance of a Marshall, Michigan woman is on trial for raping a 16-year-old.
The fiance of Mary Lands, 54-year-old Christopher Pratt, is on trial for raping a then 16-year-old in 2018. Pratt was the last person to see Mary alive. Mary was declared dead in 2011, despite her remains never being recovered. Foul play is suspected in her disappearance.
A jury trial is now underway in Calhoun County Circuit Court where jurors heard from the now 19-year-old victim on Wednesday, October 27, 2021, according to the Battle Creek Enquirer.
During testimony on the first day of the trial, the alleged victim told jurors she was raped by Pratt at his home in Albion on September 11, 2018.
The victim said she had been staying at a residential treatment facility in Albion, Starr Commonwealth, before she ran away in hopes of seeing her boyfriend, who lives on the east side of Michigan.
The victim told the court that she had been walking when Pratt approached her and offered to help her. The victim testified that Pratt then took her his home and she used Pratt's phone to call her boyfriend. She said her boyfriend was unable to pick her up at that time.
At that point, the then 16-year-old agreed to stay with Pratt, who she says bought her several items then smoked marijuana with her. The victim said she soon fell asleep but was awoken to Pratt touching her before she says she was raped.
The next day Pratt took her to Holly but she never told her boyfriend about the sexual assault. A week later she was found and returned to Starr but ran from the facility again only to be located at Pratt's house once again. The victim said she didn't know anything else and didn't know where to go.
The victim acknowledged that her recollection of the night has changed a few times before telling the court that she's tried to forget the night.
Pratt is charged with third-degree criminal sexual conduct and faces up to 15 years in prison if convicted.