KALAMAZOO, MI (WKZO AM/FM) – A Kalamazoo man pleaded no contest to two counts of Criminal Sexual Conduct for assaults he committed 13 years ago.
The Kalamazoo County Sexual Assault Kit Initiative obtained two convictions against 39-year-old Jamaal Vincent last week.
The Michigan Attorney General’s Office made this announcement on Monday, May 15 that the convictions stem from an investigation into a 2009 sexual assault committed by Vincent. For that, a jury convicted him in September of 2021 and he received a sentence of 25 to 50 years.
During that investigation, the Kalamazoo team discovered that Vincent had also sexually assaulted two unrelated females a year later in 2010: One in January of that year, a 20-year-old. And the other, he assaulted in the summer of the same year, a 12-year-old living with her mother who was dating Vincent at the time.
Both victims testified in Vincent’s 2021 trial that resulted in his initial conviction.
The no contest pleas from Vincent resulted in a sentence of 20 to 40 years for one count of 1st degree Criminal Sexual Conduct and 8 to 15 years for one count of 2nd degree Criminal Sexual Conduct, with sentences for all convictions to be served concurrently.
“The convictions obtained by our SAKI units on these cold cases show sexual assault survivors in Michigan that justice is attainable and worth pursuing,” said Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel. “I am grateful for the work of the Kalamazoo SAKI prosecutors and thank our courageous victims who step forward to hold predators accountable.”
“These convictions of Jamaal Vincent are a great example of what prosecutors know to be true, and want other people to realize. The people who commit sexual assault usually don’t stop with just one victim,” said Kalamazoo County Prosecutor Jeff Getting. “Far too often the prosecution of cold case sexual assaults start with one case and end up with additional victims. Jamaal Vincent will be spending decades in prison thanks to the courage of the survivors who came forward and bravely stood up to him.”
Vincent is currently lodged at the Michigan Department of Corrections on two counts of 1st degree Criminal Sexual Conduct stemming from his 2021 convictions. He is set to be sentenced in the 9th Circuit Court on July 10.
These represent the 15th and 16th convictions obtained by the Kalamazoo Sexual Assault Kit Initiative. The team in Kalamazoo is in the process of investigating approximately 225 cold-case sexual assaults that occurred in Kalamazoo County between 1976 and 2015.
