“Who’s the weak one now?” asks teenager as Saginaw County sex offender goes to prison

SAGINAW, MI — Four years ago, a teenager escaped from a semi-truck after a trusted family friend tried to molest him. Investigating police soon discovered that the Brant Township truck driver had allegedly sexually abused other minors, which landed him on a slew of charges.

When defendant Matthew A. Limron learned he would have to spend more than a decade in prison, he also heard about a scathing letter from the teenager in which he revealed his abuses.

“When I was 14, you saw me as a pawn, an opportunity, something to play your sick games with,” the teenager wrote. “Your behavior toward a child made me feel shame that I was not allowed to feel.”

The teen’s words were read aloud by a victim advocate from the Saginaw County District Attorney’s Office during Limron’s sentencing hearing on May 28. Limron hung his head and did not speak.

The only person who should be ashamed, the teenager’s letter continued, was Limron. However, he doubted that Limron would be ashamed because there was something wrong with him that could not be changed.

Limron pleaded guilty in March to first-degree sexual abuse with bodily injury and three counts of sexual battery of a child for an immoral purpose. In exchange, prosecutors dropped charges of first-, second- and third-degree sexual abuse and two counts of dangerous exhibitionism.

In his statement, the teen wrote that Limron insinuated himself into his world and became a trusted friend of his family. Limron pretended to act appropriately to hide his problems, the teen continued.

He encouraged Saginaw County District Court Presiding Judge Darnell Jackson to show no mercy, but expressed doubts that Limon would receive a fair punishment.

“The children, your children, must be protected from the monsters that hide in the darkness,” the teenager wrote. “You will not get what you deserve today. You are an animal that attacks those you see as weak. Who is the weak one now?”

Jackson sentenced Limron to 13 to 30 years in prison, with credit for 747 days already served. Limron must also register as a sex offender and wear a restraint for the rest of his life.

The investigation began in August 2020 when Hampton Township police officers responded to a possible sexual assault at the Kroger store at 2901 Center Ave. Saginaw County parents told police their 15-year-old son was riding with Limron in his semi-trailer and he contacted them after they arrived at the store.

The teen told his mother he went into the Kroger to buy a drink, and when he returned to the semi-truck parked behind the Rebel Food Store, 2850 Center Ave., Limron was standing naked inside and asked him if he wanted a back massage. The teen told Limron he had to use the bathroom and went back into the store, where he called his parents.

Police spoke to the teenager, who said Limron also talked about showering together at a rest stop in another county.

The teenager’s parents told police that their son was friends with Limron and that’s why they let him ride along.

Limron was trying to drive away in his semi-trailer when police stopped him. Limron told officers he had to make a delivery to a school in Essexville and brought the teen with him. He said it’s not unusual to give people a lift on deliveries to show them the job.

Limron claimed he and the teen were watching movies in the back of the semi-truck and he joked about giving him a back rub. He denied taking off his pants but said he joked with the teen that there was a hole in his shorts.

“Limron stated that he could understand that (the teen) might have been uncomfortable, but all he had to do was say something to him and he would have stopped joking with him,” police wrote in their report.

Officers did not arrest Limron at the time. He was later charged in Bay County District Court with public nuisance and pleaded guilty. He was ordered to pay $1,295 in court costs and fines.

Michigan State Police began investigating Limron in March 2021. They concluded that he exposed himself, molested, or abused several underage boys between 2017 and 2021. Limron’s conviction for first-degree sexual abuse stems from a crime he committed in Marion Township in 2018.

Limron was married when police began their investigation. His wife filed for divorce in May 2021 and the matter was settled a few months later.