Wow. Here’s one for you and I thank a reader with a careful eye for catching this and sending it to me.
Howard Kaplan was arrested in December 1992 for many counts of criminal sexual conduct with 8-year-old children (one boy and two girls), including CSC1. Kaplan was 36 at the time and is the adopted son of former Motown VP John Kaplan. He was convicted and sentenced to 22 life terms in prison for his crimes but MDOC records show a discharge date of January 28, 2025, with the reason: Offender Discharge. Death would be a reason for discharge, but an AI search explains that “there is no information available in the search results that states he died in custody on that date.”
https://mdocweb.state.mi.us/OTIS2/otis2profile.aspx?mdocNumber=143064
So why the discharge and why no records of his death if that is the reason for the discharge?
When Kaplan was arrested, he was looked at as a possible suspect in the OCCK case. He would have been 21 in 1977. He was considered a suspect because police found clothing resembling police uniforms in his home. He did not work in security or in law enforcement.
A December 4, 1992 article from the Royal Oak Tribune explained some of the reasons Kaplan was considered a suspect:
“One Police Officer noted Thursday that whoever killed the four youngsters in 1976-77 may have worn a police officer’s uniform to lure the two boys and two girls in his car.”
“Some investigators – such as the late Donald Geary, police chief of Ferndale- had contended that certain evidence indicated the child killer had lived in Oak Park.”
The Michigan Court of Appeals denied his appeal in an unpublished decision in May 1997. I wonder who his attorney was.
A few additional observations:
- As you can see from the number of cases I have posted over the years about defendants over 70 who have been busted for CSC with minors, these guys never age out. Elderly status means nothing here if this guy is on the streets.
- Twenty-two life sentences–how, other than death, can the guy be out of the system in 2025? How many life sentences do you need to keep a child rapist in prison?
- Compare to this guy who got 1,800 years for killing a sexual predator.
https://www.change.org/p/a-hero-sentenced-to-prison-for-killing-a-child-molester?source_location=topics_page. - What the literal fuck?
**UPDATE: The man appears to have a current address in West Bloomfield, about 8 miles due west of Morningview Terrace off of Maple Road, which may be his late parents’ home.
And it also appears that he has been fighting for freedom on his own since his last denial.
https://www.supremecourt.gov/search.aspx?filename=/docketfiles/14-5799.htm
Perhaps it is some sympathetic medical release. However the State of Michigan has the papers buried.
Thanks again to this reader for the above information.
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Michigan does keep good corrections records. It’s like Vince G, nothing, never heard of him.
He has an interesting list of past attorneys.
His past District Court records show his attorney was Bruce Leitman of Bloomfield Hills. This was for his charge of Assault with intent to do great bodily harm less than murder.
A year later for all of his CSC charges he used Patrick Cleary of Bloomfield Hills, also in District Court. But in Circuit Court he used Travis Ballard. Ballard has many serious disciplinary records on the Attorney Discipline Board and eventually lost his license.
The circuit court record also shows a second defendant of NONE with attorney SADO (State Attorney Defender’s Office). So that is probably who he is using.
Look at his weight in the MDOC document: 118lbs. At 5’7, that is positively skeletal. My bet would be on a medical release of some sort.
I saw that also. The sex offender registry has him at 130.