HIGH POINT MAN ACCUSED OF RAPE RELEASED MONTHS AHEAD OF TRIAL

January 27, 2020
My Fox 8

HIGH POINT, N.C. — A man accused of violent sex offenses in High Point was released from custody at about 10 a.m. Monday, according to North Carolina Statewide Automated Victim Assistance and Notification.
Police charged 33-year-old Michael Dean Myers with kidnapping, rape and other crimes in 2018. Since then he has been held under a $5.5 million at the High Point Detention Center.
Court documents show he attacked four women and one child in High Point
Assistant District Attorney Lori Wickline told FOX8 that Judge Todd Burke unsecured Myers' bond Thursday, allowing him to leave jail as long as he promises to attend his September trial.
“There was a speedy trial violation filed by the defense. Judge Burke denied that motion, however, he allowed the bond to be unsecured which allowed the defendant to be released," she said.
Wickline says she has been calling the victims, one who was 14-years-old at the time of the crime, to explain what happened.
“There’s nothing that I can say, or that the office can say to lessen that blow," she said. “What I do tell victims is that I will fight for them, and we will stand behind them 100 percent."
Court documents show that victims were kidnapped or lured into a van before Myers forced them to perform sex acts. In several cases, he's accused of choking or hitting the women. Police said that several of the victims were known sex workers.
“This is highly unusual in this type of case to have an unsecured bond, especially when you have this many victims in a case," Wickline said.
She explained Myers' trial is set to start the week of Sept. 14. She cited scheduling challenges as the reason for the delay.
Wickline said she will also go out into the communities where the attacks allegedly happened and warn people living nearby.
“To let them know to be aware, and to be safe, and to be on the lookout, to let them know he’s out of jail," she said.
FOX8 tried to reach Judge Burke and Michael Troutman, Myers's public defender, for comment. As of Friday evening, neither responded.
Myers faces charges for the following:
• Feb. 23, 2018 — 14-year-old female victim. Myers was charged with first-degree kidnapping, attempted first-degree forcible rape, statutory sex offense with a child under 15, assault by strangulation and robbery with a dangerous weapon.
• Feb. 24, 2018 — 33-year-old female victim. Myers was charged with 2 counts of second-degree forcible sex offense, 2 counts of first-degree kidnapping and 2 counts of assault on a female.
• Feb. 25, 2018 — 31-year-old female victim. Myers was charged with first-degree kidnapping, attempted second-degree forcible sex offense and assault on a female.
• March 25, 2018 — 47-year-old female victim. Myers was charged with second-degree kidnapping and assault on a female.

High Point man accused of rape released months ahead of trial

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