Lane
A 31-year-old Medora man was sentenced to 24 years in prison Friday after pleading guilty to two Level 3 felony counts in Jackson Circuit Court in Brownstown.
James D. Lane received that term from Jackson Circuit Court Judge Richard W. Poynter after entering a guilty plea on Oct. 19, 2023.
At the time of his arrest on Jan. 1, 2019, Lane had been charged with two Level 1 felony counts of child molesting and a third charge of child molesting-fondling or touching a child under the age of 14. Besides pleading guilty to the lesser Level 3 child molesting counts, the third count was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Poynter also credited Lane with 926 days of actual credit and 154 days of good time credit for time already served.
The court further found Lane as a “credit restricted felon,” meaning he will be required to serve at least 85% of his sentence. Being assigned to Class C for credit time calculation will result in Lane receiving one day of credit time for every six days served incarcerated.
The two charges will be served consecutively.
According to the probable cause, on April 2, 2021, Indiana State Police Detective Nathaniel Adams was contacted about an alleged child molestation incident that had occurred in Jackson County. The child had an interview with a child advocacy center in Bloomington on the same date.
According to the report, the child had told a counselor at North Vernon Elementary School that Lane had touched their private area.
The counselor said the child’s mother reported the allegations to the Indiana Department of Child Services at the time but did not know if it had been reported to law enforcement.
Melissa Brown, a forensic interviewer, said during an interview, the then-6-year-old child had been asked what happened at Lane’s house.
The child said Lane took them and two siblings, who were 8 and 9, to the bathtub, shut the lights off and then touched them.
Prior to the bathtub incident, the child told Brown the three children had all been playing in mud puddles outside and needed to take a bath. The child said the mom ran the bathwater and then left the house and left the children alone with Lane.
One of the other children also reported Lane had been touching them inappropriately in their private areas using his hand in the bathtub, while the third child was uncomfortable speaking on the topic, according to the probable cause affidavit.
Lane was interviewed on April 14, 2021, by Adams and Detective Andrew Mitchell outside his home. The detectives confronted Lane with the children’s statements and said they were detailed in what occurred.
Lane denied the allegations of what occurred in the bathroom, saying he had never done anything sexual with the children, according to the probable cause.
Lane did tell the detectives he was charged with sexual assault when he was 12 and also had something similar happen to him at a young age.
The incident Lane mentioned when he was charged with sexual assault was found in an incident report by the Medora Police Department
At the time he was found to be an adjudicated delinquent, where a youth has been found by a judge in a juvenile court to have committed a violation of a criminal law.
It is unclear how much time Lane spent in the juvenile detention center for his crime, but he did receive probation at that time for his delinquent act.
Before leaving Lane’s residence, detectives asked if he would be willing to take a polygraph test as part of the investigation into the children’s allegations.
On May 25, 2021, Lane came to the Indiana State Police Versailles Post for a stipulated polygraph examination. A polygraph test measures and records physiological responses, such as heart rate, blood pressure, breathing patterns and skin responses, while a person is asked and responds to specific questions.
In the opinion of the examiner, it was determined Lane was not truthful in his answers to the questions that were asked to him, and the polygraph found that deception was indicated.
According to Jackson County Chief Prosecutor Jeff Chalfant, polygraph test results normally are not admissible in court as they are not scientifically reliable enough for use when stakes are high in court.
In this case, however, both parties agreed to admit whatever results would come into evidence prior to Lane taking the polygraph test.