Man accused in 1998 rape of woman after bingo game sentenced

MOUNT CLEMENS (AP) - A man who authorities say abducted and raped a 62-year-old woman after she left a suburban Detroit church bingo game in 1998 has been sentenced to 15 to 50 years in prison.

The Detroit Free Press reports 46-year-old Michael Loftis of Macomb County's Clinton Township learned his punishment Tuesday in Macomb County Circuit Court after earlier pleading no contest to first-degree criminal sexual conduct.

Prosecutors say the woman was kidnapped from a bingo game at the Sacred Heart church summer festival in Roseville. She died in 2011 at age 75. Loftis was charged last year after prosecutors say his DNA matched samples collected from clothing and a car.

Loftis' DNA was obtained by California authorities in a different matter. Michigan State Police got a match through a national database.

Published: Thu, Oct 22, 2015