Fisher
A 22-year-old Seymour man was sentenced to six years in prison Thursday after pleading guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 5 felony, in Jackson Circuit Court in Brownstown.
Tyler Jolly Fisher received that term from Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard W. Poynter. Fisher, who also received 433 days of actual credit and 19 days of good time credit, was ordered to serve the full sentence with no suspended time with a 10-year term as a registered sex offender.
Jackson County Prosecutor Jeff Chalfant said Fisher would have received more good time if it wasn’t for three incidents of misconduct within the jail that caused his loss of good time credit.
On June 1, 2021, Fisher was arrested after an investigation into a report of child molesting, a Level 3 felony, according to a news release from Seymour Police Department Lt. C.J. Foster at that time.
The charge stemmed from a report Fisher had sexual intercourse with a 13-year-old.
The investigation began April 14, 2021, when police conducted interviews at Susie’s Place, a child advocacy center in Bloomington where victims and witnesses of different crimes are forensically interviewed, according to the news release.
A Jackson Circuit Court arrest warrant was issued May 17, 2021, for Fisher as a result of the investigation, police said at that time.
On June 1, 2021, Seymour and Jackson County Sheriff’s Department officers responded to a residence in the city, but Fisher was not there, and the residents of the home did not know who he was.
Police then went to a home in the 600 block of Centennial Street in Seymour and were allowed entry by a resident of the home, Foster said.
Fisher was found hiding in a bedroom there and then taken to SPD for questioning. At the police station, Fisher requested an attorney, at which time he was taken to the Jackson County Jail in Brownstown and later booked in at 9:52 p.m. that day.
The next day, investigators were able to conduct an interview with Fisher and obtained a confession, Foster said.
Fisher’s bond was then set at $5,000, which he then posted on June 10, 2021, and was arrested on a second Level 3 felony charge of child molesting from a separate incident, according to Foster’s news release.
Fisher then posted bond on the second incident but failed to appear in court Sept. 7, 2022, for a hearing, leading to the warrant for failure to appear being issued and his third arrest. He was then booked into the Jackson County Jail at 1:38 p.m. Sept. 9, 2022.
During the sentencing hearing, Fisher claimed to have suffered from physical and sexual abuse himself growing up and used substances to cope with the trauma. He claimed with his substance use, he wasn’t thinking clearly and said he felt horrible for taking advantage of the victim.
During his statement, he apologized to the victim and the victim’s family for potentially ruining her life and asked for forgiveness. Fisher said to Poynter he would understand if he went to prison but asked for a chance to turn his life around.
Public Defender Jeremy Braunstein asked the court to give Fisher a suspended sentence with a couple years of probation, and if Fisher violated his probation, it would be his consequence.
Fisher said if he received a suspended sentence and probation, he would have a job opportunity and be a productive member of society.
Poynter said while he sees remorse in Fisher’s actions, it did not give him the right to commit the acts that he did.
“Just because you were victimized in your past does not give you the right to victimize someone else,” Poynter said.
Since Fisher took a plea agreement on the Level 5 felony for sexual misconduct with a minor, the other two counts of child molesting were dismissed.
Fisher will be sent to the Reception Diagnostic Center in Plainfield to determine the right facility for him to serve his time.