A former Fraser schools employee who was sentenced to eight to 50 years in prison last month for having sex with a 15-year-old student had his sentence reduced by two years by Macomb County Circuit Court Judge Julie Gatti.

Robert William Lindsay II, 26, appeared in Gatti’s courtroom Thursday morning with his attorney Joshua VanLaan, but did not speak. Judge Gatti gave him credit for 485 days served of the six-year sentence.

Lindsay will still have to abide by other terms of the original sentencing, including that he must register as a sex offender upon release from prison and must have no contact with the victim.

In October, Lindsay pleaded no contest to five counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and two counts of second degree criminal sexual conduct. The first-degree charges are punishable by up to life in prison while second-degree is punishable by up to 15 years. Lindsay filed a motion disputing the sentencing guidelines and requested to be resentenced.

Gatti said she made her resentencing decision after viewing video evidence that included the teen victim’s interview with police detectives as well as Lindsay’s police interview.

VanLaan said while the video may not exonerate his client, it gave context to the situation.

After VanLaan and Assistant Macomb County Prosecutor Kelsey Heath spoke, with Heath arguing eight years was “a gift” given the crime committed, and VanLaan countering Heath did not present evidence to merit a longer sentence, Gatti called both attorneys to the front of the courtroom for a sidebar.

After conferring for several minutes, Gatti announced to the courtroom she did not have time Wednesday evening to view the last 10 minutes of Lindsay’s portion of the video and called VanLaan and Heath into chambers while she did so.

Heath accused Lindsay of “grooming” the victim with the sole purpose of engaging her in sexual activity and that the original eight years to which he was sentenced was less than what she and the victim’s family felt the evidence showed that he deserved.

“None of this is about what the victim wants,” said Van Laan. “She has repeatedly stated she does not want to see Mr. Lindsay get hurt and has no desire to see him go to prison.”

After watching the video, Gatti read some of the statements made by the victim.

“I was struck by several of the things she said; she was very eloquent and described herself as being very mature,” Gatti said. “She said she felt safe with Mr. Lindsay, that they were both happy and that everything was on her terms.

“She thought of him as a peer.”

At Lindsay’s original sentencing, Gatti chided Lindsay for taking away the victim’s innocence, but during Thursday’s sentence recanted that statement saying Lindsay “did not deflower” the victim. She dismissed Heath’s claim that Lindsay groomed the victim.

“What Mr. Lindsay did was criminal and it was wrong, but as far as him being a danger to society or to other children, I will keep my thoughts to myself,” said Gatti. “They both knew that there was a possibility this would lead to the place we are at right now.”

The courtroom was filled with supporters of both the victim and Lindsay, who managed Fraser High School’s auditorium as an audio-visual technician. He maintained a sexual relationship with the student from January to October 2023, prosecutors said. Gatti determined the evidence showed sexual contact happened over the course of two to three months.

Lindsay was employed by Fraser EDU, a Grand Rapids-based substitute staffing firm.

He resigned the month before he was arrested by Fraser police.

Macomb County Prosecutor Peter Lucido disagreed with the judge’s decision to reduce Lindsay’s sentence by two years.

“The Macomb County Prosecutor’s Office opposed the resentencing in this case, however, we respect the judge’s decision and remain committed to seeking justice for our community,” Lucido said.