Stephanie Park said she spent years trying to shield her adopted daughter from her biological mother, who is accused of killing the 22-year-old pregnant Wexford County woman while attempting to cut a baby from the victim's womb.

The victim, Rebecca Park, did not have a close relationship with her biological mother, Cortney Bartholomew, according to Stephanie Park.

"It was not good; they had no contact with her growing up," Stephanie Park told The Detroit News in an interview on Wednesday. "I hid those kids from her for 18 years, knowing something like this was a huge possibility, and that this woman (Cortney Bartholomew) was dangerous."

Meanwhile, the man who was charged as an accessory to the killing, the victim's stepfather, has a history of sex crimes against children and multiple convictions for failure to properly report as a sex offender.

Rebecca Park, who was 38 weeks pregnant, was reported missing from Wexford County on the west side of Michigan after she was last seen on Nov. 3. Authorities conducted multiple searches of the area, until Nov. 25, when a body later confirmed to be Park's was found in the Manistee National Forest, near Boon, according to the Wexford County Sheriff's Office.

Wexford County Prosecutor Johanna Carey said Tuesday that 40-year-old Cortney Bartholomew and her husband, 47-year-old Bradly Bartholomew, lured the victim to their home in Boon, about 12 miles west of Cadillac, and tortured her while trying to remove the baby from her womb.

"They brought Rebecca Park to their home. They forced her into a vehicle and took her into the woods, where they stabbed her. They forced her to lie on the ground while they cut her baby out of her, ultimately causing her death and the death of the baby," said Carey during the two defendants' arraignment Tuesday in Cadillac's 84th District Court on charges of first-degree murder, felony murder, torture, conspiracy, assault of a pregnant person causing miscarriage or stillbirth, unlawful imprisonment and removal of a dead body.

Both defendants were remanded to the Wexford County Jail without bond. It was unclear Wednesday whether either defendant had retained an attorney.

The Bartholomews' arrests happened after two other people reportedly related to Park were arrested on charges not directly related to her death. Kimberly Park is charged with tampering with evidence, lying to a police officer and false report of a felony; Richard Falor is charged with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance — meth. Cadillac-based 9 and 10 News reported that Kimberly Park is Rebecca's sister and Falor was Rebecca's fiancé.

Carey on Wednesday referred questions to the Attorney General's Office, which is handling the case.

Stephanie Park said she fostered Rebecca Park, Kimberly Park and their brother after the state removed them from their biological mother's care.

"They were pulled out of the home by (Child Protective Services), and I think CPS did the right thing," Park said. "I raised the three kids until (their parents') parental rights were terminated, and then we adopted them.

"They were sweet little kids ... we raised them their entire lives," Stephanie Park said. "All foster kids are fragile, and I made sure they stayed with us, so they didn't have to deal with any more trauma."

Stephanie Park said she has adopted Rebecca Park's 2- and 3-year-old sons. She also cares for Kimberly Park's year-old daughter.

"Becca knew she couldn't raise her kids the way we raised her, and she wanted to make sure no matter what happened, she'd have access to them, and that they'd be raised safely, and loved like she was," she said.

The last time Stephanie Park spoke to her adopted daughter was Halloween night.

"It was just a couple days before she went missing," she said. "She wanted to wish her boys happy Halloween and make sure they had fun trick-or-treating. But they'd already gone to bed, so she didn't get a chance to talk to them."

Stepfather's criminal record

Bradly Bartholomew's criminal record goes back to 2000, when he was convicted of counterfeiting and sentenced to two years of probation.

In August 2011, Bradly Bartholomew, who, according to the Michigan Department of Corrections, has a tattoo of an angel on his right arm and a wolf on his left, was convicted of receiving and concealing stolen property and sentenced to 180 days in jail and two years of probation, according to court records.

Four months later, in December 2011, Bradly Bartholomew was convicted of third-degree criminal sexual assault involving a victim between 13 and 15 years old, and was sentenced to 2-7 years in prison. That month, he was also convicted of larceny and sentenced to 1-5 years in prison.

After serving two years in prison, while on parole, Bradly Bartholomew in June 2014 was convicted of failure to comply with reporting duties as a sex offender and sentenced to 1-2 years in prison.

In November 2016, less than four months after his release from his second prison stint and while still on parole, Bradly Bartholomew was arrested for possessing child sexually abusive material. Wexford County Circuit Court Judge William Fagerman, in August 2017, sentenced the defendant to 1-6 years in prison.

Bradly Bartholomew was paroled again in September 2019, but in less than a year, he was arrested again, in April 2019, for parole violation. He returned to prison in May 2019 and was paroled in December 2020. On Dec. 23, 2022, he was released from parole.

In December 2023, Bradly Bartholomew was charged with failure to comply with reporting duties as a sex offender. At the arraignment, Wexford County Circuit Judge Jason Elmore released the defendant on his own recognizance. On Jan. 19, 2024, he pleaded guilty and was sentenced to 180 days in jail.

News of the arrests shocked the small community.

“This is not who we are at all,” Pastor Teresa Costales of Boon Fresh Start Church told MLive. “This is devastating for all of us, and I think we’re all a little bit in shock.”

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