Staff Reports

Two brothers from Seymour were arrested Friday on Jackson Circuit Court warrants for child molesting.

The arrests of Dawson Allen Hess, 22, and David Dean Hess, 21, stem from a report of child abuse and neglect that the Seymour Police Department received in January from the Jackson County office of the Indiana Department of Child Services, Lt. C.J. Foster said.

That report stems from a teenager who told investigators he had been molested by the Hess brothers in a series of incidents dating four to eight years ago, Foster said.

The teen was between the ages of 8 and 9 when the incidents occurred, Foster said.

After conducting multiple interviews and compiling evidence, Seymour police forwarded the case to the Jackson County Prosecutor’s Office. Jackson Circuit Court Judge Rick Poynter granted warrants for the arrests of the brothers on July 8.

Each brother faces once Class B felony count of child molesting and one Level 3 felony charge for child molesting. The Class B felony charge is tied to crimes that occurred before June 30, 2014.

Both a Class B felony and a Level 3 felony carry penalties of three to 16 years in person upon conviction with an advisory sentence of nine years.