A longtime Democratic Delta Township supervisor facing felony child sex charges is set to be re-elected as the only candidate for the position on the November ballot.

Former Delta Township Supervisor Ken Fletcher resigned his position on Sept. 3 after an undercover Eaton County Sheriff’s investigation resulted in felony charges for using a computer to commit a crime and accosting children for immoral purposes.

Fletcher was first elected supervisor in 2008, has repeatedly won re-election, and is now the sole candidate for the position in the Nov. 5 election.

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“Obviously, we couldn’t control the timing of this, so our board is really still navigating through the legal side of this with the upcoming election,” Delta Township Manager Brian Reed told WSYM.

Eaton County Clerk Diana Bosworth told the new site “per state guidance, the candidate will remain on the ballot.

“If elected, the candidate would have to choose not to take office,” Bosworth said.

Authorities allege a detective posing as a 15-year-old boy on the app Grindr began a conversation with Fletcher that lasted two days in August, culminating in an agreement to meet the child at the Lansing Mall for “just talking.”

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Fletcher used an explicit user name to chat with the detective, before the two continued their conversation through text messages, WLNS reports.

Detectives traced the phone number from the texts to Fletcher, who used the same number in his email signature, before investigators with the Internet Crimes Against Children Task Force executed a search warrant on his Lansing home on Aug. 21.

Detectives allege Fletcher, who was home during the search, admitted to using Grindr to message with a “male whom he believed was 15 years old,” according to WLNS.

The married father of three allegedly admitted to “making sexual requests of the male prior to knowing his age” and “admitted to continuing the conversation, sending further sexual messages, and offering to meet the ‘juvenile’ at the Lansing Mall after being informed the person was 15 years old,” the news site reports.

Fletcher appeared in court on Monday.

“There’s no indication that he ever had an interest in meeting up with anyone who was under the age of 16, given he refused to here,” attorney Chris Wickman said. “And they’ve alleged searched his devices and found nothing.”

Eaton County Prosecutor Doug Lloyd told the court Wickman “is being disingenuous when he says that some of those texts did not occur … after Mr. Fletcher had been advised that the individual was 15 years old.”

WSYM notes that while Fletcher is currently the only candidate for township supervisor on the ballot, a write-in candidate could join the race if they file by Friday, Oct. 25.

Michael Nichols, with the Nichols Law Firm defending Fletcher, told WSYM the former supervisor is unlikely to take office if elected.

“Ken has enough on his plate, that politics are the furthest thing from his mind,” Nichols said in a statement. “I cannot imagine he wants anything to do with the public eye/public office right now.”

Delta Township Clerk Mary Clark was appointed acting supervisor at a township board meeting on Monday.

The debacle, made public on Sept. 4, came the same week Grand Traverse County Commissioner Brad Jewett, 55, was arraigned on charges of soliciting a prostitute. The Republican’s arrest prompted a much different reaction from Democratic Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel than Fletcher’s case.

“Public officials should be held to a higher standard, but when they stoop to committing crimes that harm their own communities, my department will seek full enforcement of the law,” Nessel posted to X, along with a CBS News story on Jewett’s case. “We remain committed to holding accountable anyone who engages in criminal conduct, regardless of their position or status.”

Public officials should be held to a higher standard, but when they stoop to committing crimes that harm their own communities, my department will seek full enforcement of the law.https://t.co/8AiZEDAsK6

— Dana Nessel (@dananessel) September 3, 2024

Jewett faces two misdemeanors for his alleged crimes involving an adult.

Nessel hasn’t bothered to address Fletcher’s felony charges for his alleged sex crimes involving a minor.