Statutory Rape Case Dismissed After Alleged Victim Commits Suicide

(CNN) -- A statutory rape charge against an 18-year-old Michigan man who had sex with a 14-year-old girl has been dropped after the girl committed suicide, according to the Wayne County, Michigan, prosecutor's office.

"Our witness was the evidence and her testimony was going to be our evidence in the case," said Maria Miller, spokeswoman for the prosecutor's office. "Our heart goes out to the family in what is just a tragic case."

The mother of Samantha Kelly made a tearful plea for justice on Wednesday after watching former defendant Joseph Tarnopolski go free.

"My daughter did not get any justice before this, and she is not getting justice now," Kelly's mother, June Justice, told reporters, according to CNN affiliate WDIV.

Samantha Kelly's death removed evidence and testimony that might have led to a conviction, and made it impossible for the defendant to face his accuser under oath in open court, Miller said.

The girl's body was discovered by her 12-year-old brother after she hanged herself in her bedroom on Monday, according to Huron Township Detective Scott Carey.

Tarnopolski, who faced the specific charge of criminal sexual conduct of the third degree, acknowledged having sex with Kelly but disputed claims that it was not consensual.

"It was a mutual thing and I have text messages proving that," Tarnopolski told WDIV. "It's her parents that pushed it as hard they did," he said. "They said I threw her down and all that stuff. It never happened."

A police investigation indicated the sexual encounter was consensual but the alleged victim was under the age of consent, according to a written statement by Huron Township police.

Despite Tarnopolski's admission of a sexual encounter, Michigan state law precludes using only the defendant's statement in proving a case.

Choking back tears in front of reporters, the girl's mother said court authorities took her into a separate room where prosecutors explained the ruling before the case was dismissed.

"This is our justice system," she said disparagingly.

News of Samantha Kelly's death rippled through the small Detroit suburb in Wayne County.

"It's torn all of us up," said neighbor Amy Tyree. "Anytime you have a loss of a young child, it just tears the community to pieces."

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HURON TOWNSHIP, Mich. — Samantha Kelly endured merciless taunting from classmates after they learned that the high school freshman had accused a senior of rape.

The weeks of harassment eventually became too much. Samantha went home from school Monday and hanged herself in this community southwest of Detroit.

With their key witness dead, prosecutors on Wednesday dropped criminal charges against the older student, saying they had no case without the accuser's testimony.

Samantha's mother screamed at 18-year-old Joseph Tarnopolski after his brief court appearance and had to be restrained by a relative. She told reporters she was not consulted about the decision to dismiss the third-degree criminal sexual conduct charge.

"My daughter did not get any justice," June Justice said.

Samantha's accusations became known to many of her neighbors and classmates after she and her mother spoke to a local television station about the matter. Samantha's face was blocked out, but word of her allegations quickly spread.

"People wanted to beat her up — people who were friends of Joe," said Ayla Raines, who also attended Huron High School. "Not to her face. She heard from other people that they wanted to beat her up."

Another student, Calie Bouchard, said 14-year-old Samantha was confronted once in the lunch room by a group of girls who insisted she was lying.

"She started breaking down in tears," Calie said.

Principal Donovan Rowe said school officials investigated the alleged bullying and found nothing overt. Rowe said on occasion he walked behind Samantha as she went from class to class and witnessed no harassment.

Huron Township police said Justice brought her daughter to the station on Sept. 27, a day after the encounter with Tarnopolski, to file a sexual assault report. At the time it was considered a statutory rape case, meaning the pair had consensual sex but that she was under the age of consent.

Justice also met with school officials and asked to keep the matter confidential, the principal said. Initially, he added, there was no animosity between the two families.

School officials said they were blindsided by the Oct. 18 television report in which Justice criticized administrators for not taking action to protect her daughter.

Before the story aired on Detroit station WJBK, Justice "was pretty complimentary of us," Rowe said. "She indicated she wanted to move her daughter to another school, but Samantha wanted to stay here."

Samantha had not been at school for about two weeks before returning Monday morning with her mother.

"Her mom had mentioned some harassment," Rowe said. "I asked her specifically if it was happening here. She said no. It was happening in the trailer park."

Samantha told close friends she was constantly being intimidated.

"She told me she was being extremely bullied, and it was extremely stressful," said 16-year-old Devyn Waldecker, a neighbor in the Huron Estates mobile home park. "People bumped into her in the hallways at school. On two occasions after school, people tried to jump her."

Waldecker, who attends another school, wanted to help the girl she had befriended just this past June, but "really didn't know what to do."

"I told her I was there for her — anything she needed from me," Waldecker said.

Samantha didn't deserve such an ordeal, said Devyn's mother, Shannon Waldecker. "Sam was a very sweet, soft-spoken person and very honest."

After school Tuesday, Devyn Waldecker learned from Samantha's mother that her good friend was dead.

"I was shocked and heartbroken," the girl said.

On Wednesday, Wayne County prosecutor's spokeswoman Maria Miller said the case against Tarnopolski could not proceed "because the sole evidence ... was the complainant."

Attorney Joseph Kosmala, a Detroit-area defense lawyer who was not involved in the case, said the prosecutor seemed to have no other choice.

"Sexual assaults are not crimes that typically take place in front of witnesses. They're private crimes," Kosmala said. "Unless the complainant can sit in the witness chair and point the finger, there is no case."

Police notified school officials Monday night about the suicide. Students were told the next day that a schoolmate had died and that counselors were available.

Tarnopolski's attorney, Jacqueline George, called the case "a sad situation" for all involved. "I hope both families can heal," she said.

A Facebook page was created to memorialize Samantha and by Wednesday afternoon had more than 550 friends. It reads, "R.I.P., Samantha Kelly. You will be missed. We love you."