(BATTLE CREEK) – A Coldwater man has entered a plea of guilty to charges following his arrest earlier this year.

Calhoun County Circuit Court officials say on June 24, 57 year old Walter Ward Jr. entered pleas of guilty to felony counts of accosting a child for immoral purposes and using a computer to commit a crime. A charge of attempted criminal sexual conduct was dropped.

Court records say that an investigation was conducted by the Calhoun County Sheriff’s Office after they received information about a man who was supposedly trying to solicit underage girls for the purpose of sexual assault. As the investigation progressed, Detectives were able to identify Ward as the individual who had arranged to meet with a girl that was underage.

Ward was arrested by Calhoun County authorities on February 13, 2025. Three months earlier, he had been arrested on identical charges in Jackson County by the Blackman-Leoni Township Department Of Public Safety.

Ward also plead guilty to the charges in Jackson County, and he is scheduled to be sentenced there on September 3. Sentencing on the Calhoun County charges will be on September 8, with the maximum punishment for both charges of four years and a $4,000 fine.

Calhoun County Court officials say as part of Ward’s plea, his sentences will run concurrent to his sentence in Jackson County.