Parents outraged after student charged with rape continues to play high-school football

BRANCH COUNTY, Mich. (NEWSCHANNEL 3) – Controversy is developing in the community of Quincy.

There, high school senior and football player, Mitchell Landis, is charged with rape and many parents are outraged that he's still in school and that he's still being allowed to play football.

Landis has been charged with two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the third degree, each count is a 15 year felony, but Landis has made bail, he's back at school, he's even playing football and that has some parents extremely upset.

On Tuesday Newschannel 3 spoke to the mother of the alleged victim, who asked not to be identified for fear of causing further stress for her daughter. She says this all started on August 28th when her daughter was at a friends house for a small party. She says Landis was there.

“She had went to bed and the alleged person had went into the room while she was sleeping and woke her up by taking her shorts off,” said the mother.

She says her daughter screamed, but no one came to help.

“He had her pinned with his legs and his arms and raped her,” said the mother.

She says her daughter reported the incident and received a rape exam, but Landis was not arrested.

Then, on Labor Day, the alleged victim went out for a jog.

“30 minutes later, calling me not knowing where she was,” said the mother, “she was in a wooded area and had been pulled into the woods by two gentlemen in black hoodies and beaten up.”

The family filed another police report, but no one has been arrested for the attack. The victim's mother believes the attack came in response to the rape allegations.

“I believe they were just trying to shut her up,” said the mother.

The next day Landis was arrested on rape charges, but the stress of the situation had become too much for the alleged victim, which is why Newschannel 3 met with her mother at a local hospital.

“She had tried to take her life,” said the mother. “She's traumatized, she's mentioned how she can't get over it, she won't get over it, she doesn't know how to get over it, so the best thing she thought was to take her life so she didn't have to think about it.”

Meanwhile, Landis posted bail, is still in school and is still playing football.

“When you're arrested and you have a $100,000 bond for two counts of third degree criminal sexual conduct, you should not be allowed to be around any juvenile females,” said the mother.

The Quincy Schools Athletic Code says that student-athletes “must be in good standing with the laws of society.”

Newschannel 3 attempted to get in touch with the athletic director and the superintendent of Quincy Schools to ask how being charged with rape and out on bail could be considered “in good standing with the laws of society,” but we have not gotten a response.

We also tried to contact Landis and his family but have not had a response.

The mother of the alleged victim says her daughter was supposed to testify against Landis in a preliminary examination on Wednesday, but since she's not able to leave the hospital, that examination has been postponed.