Dead teen beaten over time
Darr Houssen
By Ken Kolker
The Grand Rapids Press
The 14-year-old boy found dead last week in the Florida home of a former
Jenison man was beaten over a long period of time and suffered bruises over
much of his body, according to an autopsy released Monday.
The autopsy found that Joshua Corriveau was beaten with a blunt instrument,
said Jacksonville, Fla., Detective Kevin Mesh, who is investigating the
death.
Some of the bruises are old, said Mesh, noting police are asking an expert
from the University of Florida to determine the time frame of the beatings.
Mesh said the Florida state attorney's office was reviewing interviews,
reports and evidence to determine whether to file murder charges against
37-year-old William Popjes -- who grew up in Ottawa County -- and Popjes'
adopted son, Christopher Buist, 20.
Christopher Buist was known as Christopher Popjes when he attended Jenison
High School in 1999.
Both are being held on other charges. Popjes also is named in a federal bank
fraud indictment from Grand Rapids.
In the case of the boy, police found his body Thursday in the closet of a
home rented by Popjes in Jacksonville. The boy had been missing since Nov.
10, the day after Popjes allegedly left the boy's mother duct-taped to a bed
in a St. Petersburg home.
Mesh said tests could not determine whether the boy was sexually assaulted.
He said police found a pornographic magazine and alcohol in the home.
Joshua's mother, Gillian Joyce, said police told her the boy was "beaten
from head to toe."
She said she suspects her son was beaten with the same metal flashlight that
Popjes allegedly used to beat her.
Joshua was an eighth-grader who was the class clown when he went to a public
school, his mother said. Popjes talked her into home-schooling him this
year, she said.
"He was one of those kids who loved to smile. He always wanted to tell a
joke," his mother said.
He also loved to climb trees. He will be buried in the shade of a tree near
an orange grove in Florida, she said.
Meanwhile, new details are emerging about Popjes' background in West
Michigan.
In 1999, a year after adopting Christopher through Catholic Social Services
in Grand Rapids, he tried to adopt a teen-age boy from Wisconsin, officials
said.
The Ottawa County Child Protective Services launched an investigation after
complaints that Popjes was providing pornography and alcohol to Christopher
at their home, 7633 Bluebird Drive in Jenison, according to an Ottawa County
sheriff's report.
When police tried to investigate, Popjes hid his son and the Wisconsin boy
in the attic, according to a source close to the investigation.
Christopher denied the allegations when questioned at Jenison High School,
police wrote. Popjes refused to be interviewed.
The Wisconsin boy was removed from the home, according to the source.
The complaint led Popjes in September 1999 to make a flurry of e-mails and
calls, at least one threatening, to an Ottawa County CPS caseworker, court
records show.
He was found guilty of a misdemeanor for making the calls to the caseworker.
He was sentenced to probation and a fine.
He also was charged in Kent County with making threatening calls and e-mails
to Catholic Social Services after that agency wouldn't allow him to adopt
two more children in 1999, court records show. He pleaded guilty to stalking
but failed to show up for sentencing.
http://www.mlive.com/news/grpress/index.ssf?/base/news-20/1108482337282960.xml
Greegor
How does the Federal Bank Fraud figure in?