GRAND RAPIDS TOWNSHIP — A former Kentwood Public Schools custodian accused of raping a teen-aged girl who was later found dead will now stand trial in a separate rape case.
Quinn James, 42, was ordered to stand trial on felony charges of third-degree sexual assault and assault in an alleged rape from 2014.
James’ defense attorney questioned why Kent County prosecutors waited until recently to file the old rape charge after saying there was “insufficient evidence” to pursue the case four years ago.
Attorney Jonathan Schildgen said he heard no new evidence on Friday.
“They didn’t believe her then, they don’t believe her now,” Schildgen said of the victim. “I would argue Mr. James is being held in some ways illegally while they investigate him for some other crime in some other case, some other place.”
The other alleged crime: James was accused of repeatedly raping 16-year-old Mujey Dumbuya, an East Kentwood High School student, last summer.
Dumbuya was set to testify against James in April, but disappeared last month before her body found four days later in Kalamazoo.
Detectives have not identified James as a person of interest in her death, but his attorney said police are unfairly treating him as one.
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