News Photo by Reagan Voetberg Attorney Daniel White, left, and Aaron Pokorzynski are seen in the 26th Circuit Court on Monday afternoon.

ALPENA — Aaron Pokorzynski, 36, was seen in the 26th Circuit Court Monday for a status conference.

Pokorzynski is charged with second degree criminal sexual conduct and three counts of first degree criminal sexual conduct.

The first degree charges refer to a case where Pokorzynski allegedly had sexual intercourse with a 15-year-old child while serving as their tennis instructor at the APlex in 2012.

The second degree charge involves an incident in 2021 with a separate individual who he was also an instructor for.

Pokorzynski’s case came back to the 26th Circuit Court after the Michigan Supreme Court denied the application for leave to appeal a March 19 order by the Court of Appeals because the Court was not persuaded that the questions presented should be reviewed by the Court.

The March 19 order by the Court of Appeals stated that the Court denied Attorney Matt Wojda’s application for leave to appeal. The leave to appeal was denied due to lack of merit in the grounds presented with respect to the claims that the prosecutor failed to present sufficient evidence to warrant the bind over to the Circuit Court on the charges at issue, according to the Court of Appeals order.

Additionally, the application was denied as to the claims of error involving the proper interpretation and application of the relevant statutes for failure to persuade of the need for immediate appellate review, according to the Court of Appeals order.

At the status conference, Attorney Daniel White represented Pokorzynski and Assistant Prosecuting Attorney Alyssa Miller represented the people of the State of Michigan, with Judge Ed Black presiding.

White said that the prosecution is working on providing a formal offer. If White and Miller cannot reach an agreement on a plea deal, then the case will go to trial.

Judge Black asked whether they were going to try the cases separately or together. He said he recalled that there had been a decision to try the cases separately by the former prosecutor on the case, Elizabeth Reed. Miller replied that she had looked through all the information on the case and did not see anything about how the cases would be tried. Miller said she would talk to Wojda, who has also represented Pokorzynski, about the matter.

Pokorzynski’s next court appearance will be at 1:30 p.m. on Sept. 2.

Reagan Voetberg can be reached at 989-358-5683 or rvoetberg@TheAlpenaNews.com.