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Man may have
molested dozens
FLINT
THE FLINT JOURNAL FIRST
EDITION
Wednesday, November 14,
2007
By Kim Crawford
kcrawford@flintjournal.com
• 810.766.6242
A 33-year-old man was
moving from Vienna Township to Burton early this month when a
relative allegedly discovered a sample of his child pornography,
Genesee County Sheriff Robert J. Pickell said Tuesday.
That discovery led
investigators to 75 VHS tapes and more than 200 DVDs and other
evidence suggesting that Kevin T. Odette probably victimized scores
of children and teenagers over the past 20-some years.
"This guy's child
porn is very, very graphic," Pickell said about the collection
of DVDs seized from the suspect. "Hard-bitten investigators who
have seen everything couldn't even watch it."
Evidence seized by
sheriff's department investigators and statements given by some of
the alleged victims indicate the suspect may have molested as many as
75 victims from Gaylord, Lansing and around Flint, Pickell said.
Odette was arraigned
Friday on what Pickell said were the first five cases of criminal
sexual conduct and making child pornography. The cases involve
children ages 7-13 who are related to Odette, who's being held in the
Genesee County Jail on bonds of $1.6 million.
In those cases alone, the
suspect, a former grocery store employee who is married and has a
stepdaughter, faces numerous counts of first-degree CSC, child
sexually abusive activity and use of a computer to commit a crime.
The CSC charges alone are punishable by up to life in prison.
But many more cases could
be coming, and Pickell said his investigators are working with the
FBI and other Michigan departments to identify the children and teens
who appear in pornography seized from the suspect.
Pickell said the case
against Odette began to unfold Nov. 5 in Burton when the man was
moving from the South Creek Village Mobile Home Park in Vienna
Township to a new address in Burton.
A relative called the
sheriff's department when she found a recording belonging to Odette
on which her son could be seen masturbating. That led investigators
to a search in which two computers, several cameras, nearly 300 DVDs
and VHS tapes, and what Pickell described as a sexually explicit
diary of Odette's going back to 1996 were seized.
The sheriff asked that
anyone who may have been victimized or who believes their children
were molested or recorded call the sheriff's department at (810)
257-3407.
Sgt. Joe Parks also asked
for the public's help in identifying a man who apparently helped
Odette record the sex acts.
That suspect, seen briefly
on what he said were poor-quality tapes, was described as a male in
his mid-30s when the recordings were made. His right hand, covered
with tattoos, sometimes can be seen.
Pickell said Odette grew
up in the Gaylord area. Odette then lived in the Lansing area for
about 10 years.
Odette has lived in the
Flint area for about 10 years. The cases filed against him so far
accuse him of first-degree CSC and a variety of other serious felony charges
in Vienna Township and Flint Township, but the sheriff said evidence
shows other sexual assaults on children took place in Flint and in
Otsego County.
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