LANSING, Mich. — Michigan Attorney General Dana Nessel charged a Battle Creek man Thursday with sex crimes.
40-year-old Jonathan Byrd, until recently, had been a prominent figure in Michigan politics and governmental lobbying on behalf of his employer, the Michigan Laborers’ District Council of the Laborers’ International Union of North America (LIUNA).
The AG’s office says Byrd is accused of forcibly moving a victim’s hand onto his groin area at a social gathering in Kalamazoo County in April 2022.
Byrd and the victim worked in the same field, and Byrd held a position of influence in not only the Capitol but also around the state in the realm of government and politics.
The AG’s office says this provided a significant power imbalance between him and the victim.
“In the state of Michigan, we will hold sexual predators accountable no matter how well-connected they are and irrespective of whatever prominence they enjoy in the dealings of our government,” Nessel said.
Byrd has since resigned from his employment as director of external affairs for the Michigan Laborers’ District Council of LIUNA and his role as president of the South-Central Michigan Area Labor Council of the Michigan AFL-CIO.
A court date has not yet been set for Byrd.
