Zach Anderson jailed for sex with 14-year-old girl who lied about age could be taken off the sex-offender list

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Zach Anderson, 19, was jailed earlier this year after it was revealed he had sex with a 14-year-old girl
The Elkhart, Indiana teen says he met the girl on the dating app Hot or Not, but that she posed as a 17 year old - above the age of consent
In April, a judge imposed a tough sentence for Anderson
Under the sentence he was jailed for 75 days and put on probation for five years
His probation terms bar him from using the computer or internet, and that he must register as a sex offender for 25 years
The judge who sentenced him threw out the ruling on Tuesday however, based on the prosecutor breaking the terms of Andseron's plea deal
A new judge will now be randomly assigned to re-sentence Anderson, and he is hoping this new judge will be more lenient

By Associated Press and Dailymail.com Reporter

Published: 19:05 EST, 8 September 2015 | Updated: 12:39 EST, 9 September 2015

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A judge has ordered a resentencing for a 19-year-old from Indiana who had to register as a sex offender in two states because he had consensual sex with a 14-year-old Michigan girl he met online who lied about her age.

The ruling in Zach Anderson's case was released Tuesday by Berrien County District Judge Dennis Wiley, the South Bend Tribune reported.

Wiley cited comments a prosecutor made at Anderson's original sentencing in April as the reason why the teen's fate now will go before a different judge.

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Happy day: On Tuesday, a judge ordered the sentence against convicted sex-offender Zach Anderson, 19 (pictured), dropped. A new judge will randomly be assigned to resentence the teen

Small steps: Amanda and Les Anderson, Zach's parents, were excited to hear the news and hoping that they might be able to take their son out for dinner for the first time in months

Anderson, of Elkhart, Indiana, was jailed and given a five-year probation that includes a stipulation that he stay at least 1,000 feet from schools. He isn't allowed to use computers, internet or a smartphone. Anderson also faces 25 years on Michigan's sex-offender registry and would have to register as a sex offender in Indiana once his sentence is completed.

Various organizations, including a justice reform group, have said Anderson's punishment was too strict.

He faces a new bond hearing Friday before Wiley.

When his probation officer called him with the good news on Tuesday, Anderson was on his way to the store but stopped and immediately called his parents.

'Just been happier today,' Zach told WSBT on Tuesday. 'I'm not sure on all the details, but I might be able to go out to eat with my parents tonight.'

Hookup: Zach (seen, left, in his mug shot) was sentenced to 90 days in prison by Judge Dennis Wiley earlier this year after driving from his parents' Indiana home to Niles, Michigan, and having sex with an underage girl (right) who lied about her age and whose identity is being protected

Younger: Zach says he met the girl on the dating app Hot or Not, but that she advertised herself as 17

'It's not over, but it's a step,' Anderson's father, Lester, told the Tribune after learning of Wiley's ruling.

'He's got a chance at having a normal life again and that's what we want for him,' Mr Anderson added to Fox 28.

The resentencing won't reverse Anderson's conviction, but there is hope that a more lenient judge will allow the teen more freedom. His initial sentencing included a provision that he can't use the computer and internet - which forced him to end his college dreams of studying computer science.

'I was going into a really good career and I don't think you'd be able to find a job with those kind of charges,' Anderson said on Tuesday.

Freedom: Zach is pictured above with his parents on the day he was released from jail in June

The Associated Press sent an email seeking comment from the Berrien County prosecutor's office late Tuesday.

In December, Zach Anderson drove north to Niles, Michigan, to meet in person with the girl, who'd told him she was 17. Her mother called police that night when she could not find her daughter. The AP is not naming the girl or her parents because she is underage. Michigan's age of consent is 16.

Anderson pleaded guilty to a misdemeanor and spent 75 days in jail, despite the girl's mother requesting leniency on his behalf.

Anderson's attorney, Scott Grabel, later filed a motion seeking a new sentence to include provisions under Michigan's Holmes Youthful Training Act, known as HYTA. It applies to first-time offenders, ages 17 to 21, and would keep Anderson's record clean if he stayed out of trouble.

Grabel has said a Berrien County prosecutor violated a plea deal by opposing use of HYTA as part of the original sentence. Grabel said the prosecutor was supposed to take no position on the matter, but then recommended to Wiley the same sentencing used in two other similar cases.

Wiley pointed to those comments in throwing out the original sentence. In his decision, Wiley said that he still doesn't think Anderson's behavior was excusable.

He wrote that it should have been 'apparent' that the girl Anderson slept with was 'clearly underage and vulnerable' and that the fact that he dropped her off down the street from her home after sex is evidence this was 'anything but a "date"'

A randomly assigned judge will resentence Anderson.