March 29, 2024

Ramsey report

The diligent efforts of Officers of the Osceola Police Department have led to the recent guilty plea and conviction of a 20-year-old male pedophile. At the time of his arrest, for having oral sex with a 12-year-old boy, this same 20-year-old man was found to have scores of vile and disturbing videos and images of child pornography, infant rape, and bestiality concealed in what are said to be called “hidden vaults” in his cell phone. For example, an icon on the desktop of the phone appeared to be a clock but could be opened to reveal hidden child pornography files if the clock was advanced to display a certain time. And while he was charged accordingly, the task of reviewing and cataloging those disturbing images for the prosecution was not a pleasant task for any involved.

A Clarke County Jury also unanimously convicted a 25-year-old (former) Woodburn man of sexually assaulting a female family member that was under the age of twelve at the time and a male family member that was 13 at the time. Unlike the preceding case, the child victims had to testify in open court with humiliatingly specific detail about the sexual abuse they endured to secure convictions on both B and C felonies. We can only offer our prayers to the victims and our thanks to the citizen jurors, and the Sheriff’s Deputies that had to listen to the disturbing evidence. As part of this prosecution effort, Clarke County was lucky to be loaned an expert on building rapport with child victims and prosecuting sexual predators, Assistant Attorney General Maureen Hughes. The Defendant faces many other Felony counts in another Iowa County and the State of Indiana. He should be presumed innocent of the charges for which he has not been convicted. The Defendants in both of the cases mentioned above are scheduled to be sentenced on June 3rd.

In terms of March’s workload, seven Felony cases came in and nine were disposed. Felony cases are the most serious of criminal cases. The number of pending Felonies is down from 90 to 88.

Indictable Misdemeanors are Misdemeanor crimes that are punishable by more than a year but no more than two years of incarceration. Misdemeanor crimes are categorized as Aggravated, Serious and Simple. Aggravated Misdemeanors are the most serious misdemeanors and can be punished by up to two years in prison. Serious Misdemeanor crimes are punishable by up to one year in the county jail. Simple Misdemeanor crimes are punishable by up to 30 days in the county jail. Fines increase with the severity of the crime.

In March, 25 Indictable Misdemeanors came in 18 were disposed. The State’s case tracking system reflects that the pending number up 162 to 169.

In March, 384 Simple Misdemeanors came in and 324 were disposed. State’s case tracking system reflects that the total number of pending Simple Misdemeanors is up considerably to 545.

In March, the Clarke County Attorney’s Office Juvenile case load included 10 new Child in Need of Assistance (CINA) and seven were disposed. The State’s case tracking system reflects a in the total number of pending Juvenile cases from 84 to 86.