OLIVE TWP., MI (WHTC-AM/FM, Sept. 27, 2026) – There have been more charges filed against a 20-year-old Grand Rapids man who allegedly sexually abused as many as 30 children during time spent as a daycare worker at two separate facilities earlier this year.
On Friday, Michigan State Police officials announced that 23 charges had been filed by the Ottawa County Prosecuting Attorney’s office against Austin Hapner stemming from when he was employed at the Children’s Enrichment Center on the main Allendale campus of Grand Valley State University. This is on top of 39 counts he is currently facing in Kent County, of which the accused was arraigned earlier this month, and he is currently being held in the Kent County Jail.
State police investigators were tipped off on the matter by authorities in Norway, who last month handed over online chat logs purportedly revealing discussions and images of children being sexually abuse, including some in which Hapner was personally involved while employed as a student at GVSU, and at Gro Childcare Academy in Grand Rapids, where he was working until this past June. There have been between 20 and 30 juvenile victims identified thus far, some as young as age three. Their families have been notified and are working with detectives in this matter.
Hapner is slated for an arraignment in 58th District Court on these most recent charges this week.
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