DETROIT (WWJ) – A Detroit man who has spent the last 15 years in prison for two sexual assaults on teenage girls that he did not commit will soon be a free man.
In March 2007, 35-year-old Terance Calhoun pleaded no contest to two separate sexual assault cases in the fall of 2006, then spent more than a decade in prison. The cases involved a 15-year-old and 13-year-old girl.
New evidence recently led to the identification of another man believed to be guilty of the assaults, thanks to the help of the Conviction Integrity Unit, the State Appellate Defender Office and WMU-Cooley Innocence Project Staff.
Officials say Calhoun’s case was prosecuted prior to the 2009 discovery of the backlog of untested sexual assault kits and subsequent creation of the Sexual Assault Kit Task Force. However, protocols implemented by the Sexual Assault Kit Task Force to review these kit cases were instrumental in assisting the CIU with the Calhoun case.
That recently discovered evidence in the case helped authorities determine Calhoun did not commit either crime. He is expected to be released from the Maxey/Woodland Correctional Facility located in Whitmore Lake, Mich., after CIU Director Valerie Newman asks a judge on Friday to dismiss the convictions.
One of the cases Calhoun was imprisoned for included the attempted assault of a 15-year-old girl on Sept. 26, 2006, near Fenkell Avenue and Gladstone Street in Detroit.
The other case involved the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl about a month later near a liquor store on Fenkell.
The second victim filed a police report and helped authorities produce a composite sketch, which was displayed at the liquor store. Calhoun was arrested on Nov. 3, 2006, after both victims identified him in separate lineups.
In the liquor store, Calhoun pleaded no contest to first-degree criminal sexual conduct, kidnapping and felony firearm. One count of CSC - assault with intent to commit sexual penetration was dismissed as part of his plea agreement.
He also pleaded no contest to one count of attempted kidnapping in the other case, while one count of kidnapping and one count of CSC - assault with intent to commit sexual penetration were dismissed.
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He was sentenced on March 28, 2007 to two years consecutive for Felony Firearm, and 15 to 30 years for Criminal Sexual Conduct First-Degree and Kidnapping.
Authorities have not released any information about the new suspect in the case, but say he has been charged with several other sexual assault crimes. He is currently being prosecuted as a result of work completed by the WCPO Sexual Assault Kit Task Force.
Because his cases are pending no further information can be released by WCPO at this time.
Wayne County Prosecutor Kym Worthy released the following statement:
“A series of fortunate events and a lot of very hard work by quite a few people led to my decision to exonerate Mr. Calhoun. The decision in this case was the culmination of years of long work on this and unrelated cases. We will leave no stone unturned to get to justice for defendants like Mr. Calhoun.
“I want to stress that the Calhoun case was never a Sexual Assault Kit Task Force case. However, important Sexual Assault Kit Task Force protocols for reviewing criminal sexual conduct cases, implemented after the SAKs were discovered in 2009 allowed the CIU to consult with them to evaluate significant evidence in Mr. Calhoun’s case. This evidence disproved that he committed the two crimes.
“We are currently prosecuting the defendant who is alleged to be the perpetrator of criminal sexual conduct crimes. Because the cases are in progress, we are ethically prohibited from releasing further information at this time.”
