Isaiah Villeneuve

ALPENA — Two girls said an Alpena man knew they were minors when he raped them when they were 13 and 14 years old.

The girls testified on Wednesday in Alpena’s 88th District Court that Isaiah Villeneuve, 22, had sex with each of them, separately, on multiple occasions in 2021 and 2022.

The News does not identify survivors of sexual assault without their consent.

According to one girl, now 14, Villeneuve was a stranger when he contacted her through social media, telling her she was pretty.

The communication quickly turned into what the girl, then 13, believed to be a loving relationship conducted via texts.

The texts continued until the two met in person a month later and, the girl testified, had sex in a friend’s home.

The relationship, which the girl said included multiple instances of sex, lasted about a year, until she found out he had similar relationships with other girls, she said.

A second witness testified that Villeneuve invited her to join him for drinking and then pinned her down and had sex with her when she was 14.

The girl said she consented to sex with Villeneuve on several other occasions because she was afraid he would share photos and videos he had taken of her in compromising positions.

Villeneuve begged her to not tell on him, she said.

Defense attorney Rick Steiger asked the girl to explain why, other than her being a minor at the time of the alleged assault, she called it a rape.

Alpena County Prosecutor Cynthia Muszynski objected to the question, saying sex with a minor constitutes rape, regardless of any other circumstances.

Judge Alan Curtis agreed, though allowing the girl to explain why she said the sex was against her will.

Curtis said the witnesses had provided enough evidence to continue Villeneuve toward trial on six charges, including third-degree criminal sexual conduct and accosting a child for immoral purposes.

Villeneuve is currently held in the Alpena County Jail. He will next appear in the 26th Circuit Court for arraignment.

Julie Riddle can be reached at 989-358-5693, jriddle@thealpenanews.com or on Twitter @jriddleX.