The case against a 36-year-old Seymour man charged with four felonies recently was dismissed.

Prosecutors agreed to dismiss charges without prejudice against Mark P. Hankins.

An order on the dismissal was signed by Special Judge Chris Monroe on Feb. 27.

A case dismissed without prejudice means the state could bring charges related to the same incident in the future.

Hankins was accused of a Level 5 felony of criminal confinement with injury and three Level 6 felonies of strangulation, intimidation and domestic battery.

The charges stemmed from an incident involving a woman May 12, 2017.

“This completely ruined my life,” Hankins said.

He said he lost friendships and other relationships since he was charged and feels his name has been cleared.

Hankins also was not able to train with his unit in the Indiana National Guard, which he said was important to him. Hankins was honorably discharged in April 2018 after serving more than 10 years and two deployments.

He said he has considered re-entering service.

“I tried to do good things through the military, and then it got disrupted by this,” he said.

Hankins said it also has been difficult with how social media has impacted his reputation.

“You’re supposed to be innocent until proven guilty, but now the way things are with social media, it paints this negative picture that the person is guilty,” he said. “So I feel like people don’t even get a chance to go to trial before they’re already judged by friends, family or the community because of social media.”

Hankins said he is not out to get even or spread negativity about the woman, but he is focused on moving on with his life. He said he has put his time into his children and career as an owner of a local insurance agency.

“I’ve already moved on past a lot of this early on, but I really couldn’t completely until the air was cleared,” he said. “I’m grateful, and the best way I can respond is to be successful.”