Adult Charged After Meeting 11-Year-Old
Web relationship evolved to assault, according to police
By Sally Farhat, Free Press Staff Writer
Originally published in the Detroit Free Press, March 22, 2001.
A 33-year-old Farmington Hills man who police say took an 11-year-old girl shopping and to his home after meeting her over the Internet was arraigned Wednesday on rape charges.
On her second visit to the home of Joshua Premkumar Bandi, the Flint-area girl says, he tied her hands together with rope, tied a piece of cloth around her mouth and nearly suffocated her with a pillow as she was raped, according to police.
Bandi was arraigned in 47th District Court on 11 counts of sexual misconduct and Internet-related felonies. He was in Oakland County Jail on Wednesday on a $1-million bond. If convicted, he faces life in prison.
The girl and Bandi met in an Internet chat room in early February and eventually began talking on the phone, Farmington Hills Police Chief William Dwyer said.
Most men who seek to meet children through the Internet are caught through the use of decoys—police officers posing as children in chat rooms. This case may be one of the first in the area that involved an actual child, Dwyer said Wednesday.
Bandi allegedly picked up the girl on two occasions from a 7-11 near her home. She told her mother she was going to spend the night at the home of a trusted friend, Dwyer said.
Both times, police say, Bandi took her shopping and bought her clothing and shoes. He later took her to his Farmington Hills home for pizza and movies.
"Sex offenders typically shower their victims with affection over a period of time," Dwyer said. "Then, they can lower their sexual inhibitions, lower the child's guard and gain their confidence."
On her second visit March 9, she didn't return at the time she said she would the next day, and her mother called police.
Police were at the girl's house taking a missing persons report from her mother whe she arrived home crying March 10, Dwyer said. The girl refused to give her mother or police an explanation of her whereabouts, he said.
She eventually told her mother that she had been assaulted, and her mother called police.
The girl's statement to police led to a search warrant, which was executed at 2 a.m. Tuesday at Bandi's home on Elmhurst, near 10 Mile and Orchard Lake Road.
Bandi worked at Compuware until last month. He came to the United States from India on a temporary work visa in December. He was recently separated from his wife and lived in the house alone, Dwyer said, and was planning to move soon.
Bandi was charged with two counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct, five counts of second-degree criminal sexual conduct, three counts of assault with intent to commit sexual penetration and one count of using the Internet to commit a crime.
He stood mute at his arraignment in front of District Judge Marla Parker on Wednesday and requested a court-appointed attorney. His preliminary exam is scheduled for March 30.
Police recovered laptops, digital cameras and sexually explicit e-mails between Bandi and the 11-year-old, Dwyer said.
