A Washington state man who vanished for years after a groping incident at the Electric Forest music festival in Rothbury is finally headed to jail. On Monday, 35-year-old Jared Matthew Lodholm was sentenced to 15½ months behind bars for his role in a 2013 sexual misconduct case. He had pleaded no contest this spring to fourth-degree criminal sexual conduct, aggravated indecent exposure and absconding on bond, and will be on probation for five years once he gets out.
Prosecutors said the case traces back to June 2013 at Electric Forest, where Lodholm allegedly indecently exposed himself and groped a 21-year-old woman. He was arrested at the scene but later bonded out and left Michigan, then skipped his preliminary hearing. U.S. Marshals eventually tracked him down in Utah in April 2025. After he voluntarily returned to Oceana County, authorities say he fled again and was arrested a second time in August 2025 before being extradited back to Michigan. Those timeline details were laid out in a press release from the Michigan Attorney General.
Attorney General Dana Nessel said in the release, "We will continue to hold sexual assault offenders accountable, no matter how much time has passed or how far they have fled." The victim submitted a court impact statement, saying it was "very frustrating that he clearly will do all attempts to avoid taking responsibility," according to the same release. The Michigan Attorney General also credited local prosecutors and the U.S. Marshals Service for their cooperation in finally bringing Lodholm back to face charges.
Court Orders And Restitution
Judge Susan Sniegowski of the 51st Circuit Court in Oceana County handed down the 15½-month jail term and ordered Lodholm to register as a sex offender. He will also be on probation for five years after his release. The court required him to pay $7,033 in restitution to cover extradition costs. Lodholm entered his no-contest plea in March, and prosecutors added the absconding-on-bond charge after he took off following multiple bond postings. Local reporting summarized the sentence and court filings, as reported by AOL and CBS Detroit.
How He Was Located
Lodholm’s return to Michigan was handled under Operation Survivor Justice, a 2024 partnership between the Michigan Attorney General’s office and the U.S. Marshals Service that focuses on extraditing defendants with outstanding sexual assault warrants. The program, backed by state funding to lower extradition costs for county prosecutors, has already been used in multiple cases to track down fugitives who left Michigan, according to WHMI.
