A former Cedar Springs man recently pleaded no contest to two counts of child pornography in Kent County’s 17^th Circuit Court.

According to Kent County Prosecutor Chris Becker and Circuit court records, Brian James Zimmer, 41, pled no contest on November 27 to one count of child sexually abusive commercial activity and one count of using a computer to commit a crime, as part of a plea deal. Two other charges were then dropped. 

According to court records, a Homeland Security Investigations special agent acting in an undercover capacity downloaded a child porn video on October 17, 2016, from someone that was later identified as Brian James Zimmer, of Cedar Springs. On February 7, a search warrant was executed at his then residence on Becker CT NE. Computers there were seized and examined, and 433 images of child pornography were discovered. Zimmer then confessed to agents in an interview on February 7.

Zimmer was then arrested in April, and released on bond. He has since moved to Twin Lakes.

The prosecutor’s office recommended a guideline range of 21-35 months minimum sentence to be served concurrently on both counts. Zimmer is scheduled to be sentenced on January 29 at 2 p.m.

A Cedar Springs woman pled guilty last week in the crash that took a 4-year-old Greenville boy’s life.

The accident occurred in September 2015. According to police, Susan Rieckman, 70, was driving a pickup truck east on M-57 then turned left on to M-91 and hit 4-year-old Talos Bills in the crosswalk. He reportedly had his red scooter, and was crossing the street with his teenaged cousin. He only lived a couple of blocks away.

WOODTV reported that a witness at the scene said Rieckman continued driving away, and he chased down the truck, banging on it with his hands. The man reported she said it just felt like a bump.

As part of a plea deal, Rieckman pled guilty to a charge of operating with a suspended license causing death. Her license reportedly had been revoked for medical reasons.

She will be sentenced at a later date. Under the plea deal, she could get a year in jail and five years probation.

Herman Kamphuis

A Nelson Township man that drove to Ohio to have sex with two pre-teen girls pled guilty last week in a plea deal.

Herman Kamphuis, 43, pled guilty in the Federal Southern District Court of Ohio to coercion or enticement of a female over the Internet.

Kamphuis began talking to an undercover officer in a “parenting” Internet chatroom on February 2. The undercover agent was posing as the father of two girls, ages 6 and 11. The suspect allegedly turned the chat sexual, and asked about the features of the two girls. When the detective asked him what he was looking for, the suspect said he was looking to make a 25-year fantasy come true by having sex with the girls.

When Kamphuis arrived in Ohio on March 9 to have sex with the girls, he was arrested by the detective and the Franklin County, Ohio Internet Crimes Against Children task force. He had brought his computer with him, which had over 100 files of pornography involving children under 13.

Kamphuis could potentially receive up to life in prison for the crime.