Pugh arraigned in Detroit, bond set at $500,000
DETROIT (WJBK) - Former Detroit City Council President Charles Pugh is back in Detroit and went before a judge Tuesday morning.
Pugh was arraigned on six counts of criminal sexual conduct, and a magistrate entered a not-guilty plea on Pugh's behalf and set bond at $500,000. Prosecutors had asked that Pugh be held without bond Tuesday, noting that he now lives in New York and could flee. Pugh was arrested last month in New York where he had been living and working as a waiter.
You can watch a replay of Pugh's arraignment in the video player below.
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Pugh's case dates back to 2003, when the alleged victim was 14 years old at the time. Authorities say Pugh met the teen when he was a weekend morning anchor at FOX 2. Pugh was 32 years old at the time.
The student appeared as a guest with Detroit's Mosaic Youth Theatre, a group that often appeared on the weekend show. From there, Pugh is alleged to have developed a relationship with the teen.
We're told the teen asked Pugh about an internship at the station, and that they exchanged phone numbers. During the summer of 2003 the teen was invited to Pugh's Detroit home several times. Pugh is alleged to have had inappropriate sexual contact with the complainant from September 2003 through May 2004. The complainant was 14 and 15 years of age at the time of the alleged contact.
The teen never worked as an intern at FOX 2.
FOX 2 is told the teen, who is now 27 years old, came forward shortly after learning of a civil case involving a former student Pugh mentored at Frederick Douglass Academy in Detroit. The complainant in that case was 17 at the time. Pugh was ordered to pay that man $250,000 after a jury trial in that case.
According to charging documents, Pugh is facing three charges of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of third-degree criminal sexual conduct.
Pugh was elected to the Detroit City Council in 2009, but he abruptly quit in 2013. A jury last year awarded $250,000 to a young man who had accused Pugh of sexual harassment.
Pugh is facing a lifetime behind bars if convicted.