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ALPENA -- Federick Boboltz, 61, attended a probable cause conference on Tuesday in the 88th District Court in Alpena. He was arrested on a bond violation. Assistant Prosecutor Attorney Alyssa Miller told Judge Allan Curtis that Bobolts was released from jail due to an error and asked for his bond to be increased to $75,000.
Bobolts is facing 16 felony charges which occurred from August 2020 to June 2026.
Charges from 2020 include two counts of assault, less than murder; one count of killing or torturing an animal; one charge of assault with a dangerous weapon; one charge of interfering with electronic communications; and three charges of domestic violence.
Charges from 2021 include two charges of second-degree child abuse and four charges of third- degree child abuse.
Charges from 2026 include two charges of aggravated stalking.
On Tuesday, Miller told Curtis that Bobolts should still be lodged at the Alpena County jail due to a bond violation. She explained that the jail documented that he had violated a personal protective order (PPO) and a conditional bond violation.
On Monday, Judge Ed Black arraigned Bobolts on the PPO violation only and he was consequently released from jail the same day. The bond violation was filed due to Bobolts sending a text message to the victim in his case and then deleting that message. Per his PPO, Bobolts was allowed to have minimal contact with the victim if he was communicating in regards to their children.
He is currently placed on the highest level of GPS tether tracking system possible.
“This is not a criminal case, so it’s an alleged PPO violation,” Black said on Monday. “It’s not an aggravated stalking violation. That’s something that’s being dealt with down in district court.”
Bobolts will have another hearing about the alleged PPO violation at 3:30 p.m. on Aug. 25 in the 26th Circuit Court.
On Tuesday, Miller explained that Bobolts should not have been released from jail on Monday. She explained that Bobolts was given a $250 cash bond though Miller requested that Judge Curtis increase his bond amount for the violation.
"I'm not sure what happened with the paperwork or why that occurred," she said.
Miller added that Black did not "feel comfortable" addressing allegations of PPO and bond violations because it could not be confirmed what the deleted text message was referring to.
"That's why they set such a low bond amount and then said it could be handled in criminal court," she said.
Attorney Joel Bauer, representing Bobolts, said that the charges filed against his client stem from his divorce with the victim and that the allegations are "old" and are from over six years ago.
Miller stated that the charges couldn't be more than six years old because that would go against the state's statute of limitations.
"This divorce case has gotten wildly out of control," Bauer said. "It has now basically weaponized the prosecutor's office."
Bauer added that he was told by Child Protective Services (CPS) that there is not "even a preponderance of evidence for these child abuse, neglect cases."
Bauer argued that setting a higher bond would "financially constrain" his client to the point of impeding on his right to "properly defend himself."
"It's gotten ridiculous, Judge," he added.
According to Bauer, he believes that the prosecutor's office is "abusing" his clients by issuing PPOs during divorce proceedings which results in a string of "bizarre" violations, charges, and arrests.
He explained he has similar cases of "baseless domestic violence" that were compounded by PPO and bond violations. He said other attorneys and clients have faced the same challenges.
"It's gotten bizarre and it needs to stop," Bauer said. "Keep my client out of jail."
Miller responded to Bauer's arguments and stated that this is the first case she's worked on that went from a divorce to child abuse charges. She explained that the "old" charges that Bauer was referring to are likely being brought forth now because the victim was "stuck" inside the marriage.
"There are charges that if there wasn't a statute of limitation could have went back almost the whole 13 years of their marriage," she added. "Look at the dates that are actually there."
She explained that when the children were "safe from their father" were able to make those abuse allegations known to CPS. She added that CPS has contacted her to ensure that a no contact order is in effect for Bobolts.
Curtis said that the court had let Bobolts out of jail in "good faith" that he would stick to his bond conditions. Curtis added that Bobolts had been cooperating within those conditions until recently.
"While you weren't, it wasn't a problem," Curtis said. "Now that you are alleged to, it is a problem."
Curtis set Bobolts' total bond amount to $75,000 and Bobolts was placed under arrest.
His preliminary exam on all four files of charges will be on Aug. 19.
Kayla Wikaryasz can be reached at 989-358-5688 or kwikaryasz@TheAlpenaNews.com.