Music chair arrested in child sex sting

By Mallory Stiles
Editor in Chief

The Lansing Police Department Special Operations Section, aided by a detective from the Eaton County Sheriff’s Department, arrested LCC Professor and Music Program Faculty Chair Jonathan Marshall Ten Brink as a result of a child sex sting operation on July 17, 2024.

Jordan Gulkis, public information officer for the Lansing Police Department, confirmed Ten Brink, 42, was arrested on the 17th. Ten Brink was charged with one count of child sexually abusive activity, one count of accosting a minor for immoral purposes, and two counts of using a computer to commit a crime.

Gulkis also confirmed Ten Brink was arraigned in the 54A District Court on July 18, but was unable to release any additional information at this time. Ten Brink pled not guilty on all counts.

According to legislature.mi.gov, "Child sexually abusive activity" is when a child (anyone under 18) is engaged in a listed sexual act with the suspected individual. However, “accosting a minor for immoral purposes” is a “charge applied to a person who accosts, entices or solicits a child less than 16 years of age. …”

An LCC official confirmed Ten Brink has been placed on an administrative leave that became effective July 18, immediately following the arrest.

Since August of 2018, Ten Brink was also the Okemos Community Church’s director of Worship, Music and Technology. However, it has been publicized that he has resigned from his position after the sting.

LCC President Dr. Steve Robinson released a statement to faculty on July 26, via email, offering both reassurance and resources.

“As you may have seen from local media reports,” Robinson said, “an LCC employee has been arrested by the Lansing Police Department. I understand that this is difficult for our community to hear. It is also difficult to know how to feel or react to news such as this regarding one of our colleagues.

“Please remember that LCC offers free, confidential counseling to all employees through our HMSA Employee Assistance Program. I encourage you to contact the Employee Assistance Program if you think it might be beneficial for you. Here is the link for information, or you can call 1-800-847-7240 directly.”

LCC Student Kathryn Gunn-Porter took an accelerated online summer course, originally taught by Ten Brink.

She said the summer semester had gotten off to a rocky start, but praised LCC for being able to respond to a crisis so quickly. Her only criticism was that LCC didn’t make the students aware of the situation.

“The course was online, so I never actually met the man face to face,” Gunn-Porter said. “He seemed pretty normal, although something must have been going on because things weren't getting graded, for a month before his arrest.

“LCC brought the new teacher in immediately and he was phenomenal. He caught up over a month of grading in something like 24 hours. I have actually had the most positive experience returning to LCC as a non-traditional, online student.”

Gunn-Porter further described her feelings on the situation.

“I think the school handled it pretty quickly as far as replacing the teacher,” she said. “They didn't tell us though. I found out through Reddit, which was a little bit shocking!”