Livonia Man Pleads Guilty to 2010 Sexual Assault at WMU

A 34-year-old man from Livonia, Cameron Alvarez, has pleaded guilty to sexually assaulting a fellow student at Western Michigan University (WMU) in January 2010. The Michigan Attorney General's Office announced that Alvarez was charged in 2022 for the assault, which occurred on the Kalamazoo campus. He entered a guilty plea on two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct. The incident took place after Alvarez, then a sophomore, met an 18-year-old freshman at an off-campus party. Despite the victim's clear indication that she only wanted to watch a movie in her dorm room, Alvarez assaulted her shortly after they entered. Initially, the victim chose not to pursue criminal charges, feeling that her report was not taken seriously by law enforcement at the time. Consequently, a sexual assault evidence kit was not tested until 2016, as part of Michigan's initiative to address a backlog of untested kits. Although the kit did not identify male DNA, the case was investigated by multiple agencies, including Kalamazoo SAKI and the Kalamazoo County Prosecutor's Office. Prosecuting Attorney Jeffrey S. Getting praised the efforts of these agencies and highlighted the importance of victims coming forward to seek justice. Alvarez is expected to serve 12 to 25 years in prison and will face lifetime electronic monitoring as part of his plea agreement. Erin House, Special Assistant Attorney General, commended the bravery of the women who reported their assaults, revealing Alvarez as a serial offender who attempted to deflect responsibility for his actions.