A Brown County man has been charged with two Level 1 felonies for allegedly molesting two children in less than a year.
James Robert Minor, 53, of Gold Point Road, was arrested on July 18. He appeared in court via video from the Brown County jail on July 19 and entered an initial plea of not guilty. His bond was set at $200,000, half surety and half cash. Public defender Jacob Moore was appointed to represent him
The abuse for both children allegedly occurred from last November to June this year, according to court documents.
The investigation began July 3 when Det. Brian Shrader with the Brown County Sheriff’s Department spoke with a man reporting that his child had been molested by Minor. The child had told him about the molestation that evening.
That victim’s family does not live in Brown County. The child said the molestation happened at Minor’s home on Gold Point Road.
During an interview at Susie’s Place in Bloomington on July 8, she said that Minor had touched her inappropriately at the home and in the car when Minor’s wife was not around. She also said Minor had shown her pornographic videos on his cellphone and that she did not like to watch them, according to the probable cause affidavit filed on July 16.
She told police that Minor had touched her on more than one day. She also said Minor told her to keep the touching a secret, according to the affidavit.
The victim said she did not tell anyone at first because she was afraid she would get in trouble. She eventually told another relative and then her parents.
The victim had been to Minor’s home three weeks prior to the interview. She said he touched her almost every time she was there. She said the abuse had happened since Christmas last year, the affidavit states.
On July 9, Shrader visited Minor at his job in Edinburgh to serve a search warrant for his cellphone. He denied touching the victim and said that he would kill anyone that did, because the child “has his heart,” according to the affidavit.
He told Shrader there should be no pornographic material on his phone, but said that he had caught the child looking at inappropriate images on his phone before.
Shrader asked Minor to come back to the Brown County Law Enforcement Center for an interview. He said he would leave work and follow him there. Shrader reported leaving at 11 a.m., but that Minor did not show up until about 2:15 p.m.
Minor brought his brother with him as legal representation, but his brother is not an attorney, Shrader noted in his report.
While waiting on Minor, Shrader went through his cellphone and reported finding it full of pornographic material including three videos he had downloaded that he could watch at any time. One video involved young teenagers, the affidavit states.
Minor initially told Shrader that the child had looked up those videos, but Shrader learned the child had only been at Minor’s home on the weekends and not during the week. “It would have been impossible for (the child) to be responsible for such searches,” Shrader reported.
Shrader noted that Minor seemed “unemotional” when Shrader described the abuse and that he smirked when Shrader spoke about some of it. He did not immediately deny any accusations.
He did deny showing the child any pornographic material on the phone and said that if she saw anything, she did so while downloading games. He said his phone was not a locked with a password, but Shrader reported the phone did have a password in a backwards “Z” pattern. Minor said the child learned it on her own, the affidavit states.
Shrader reported that he did not think Minor’s brother knew about what was going on based on the way he was acting during the questioning.
When asked again if he had touched the child inappropriately, Minor shook his head and said, “Never.”
Minor told police he thought he was the child’s “bestest friend” and that the child “clings” to him. He continued to deny molesting her or any other child.
The same day, a second child was interviewed at Susie’s Place.
That child said that Minor was “mean” and that he played too rough while he was at Minor’s home. He also reported seeing Minor abuse the first child one day at the home.
He said that Minor also had touched him inappropriately last November, and that he smacked Minor’s hand and told him not to touch him anymore.
That child said that Minor had told him to not tell anyone about the abuse and he threatened to whip him if he did.
He also said he had seen Minor without his clothes on when he changed in front of him.
That child’s mother told police that the child had had bathroom accidents last November and again after returning from Minor’s home in May, and that the accidents wouldn’t happen when he was at home.
On July 16, Minor was officially charged with two Level 1 felonies for child molesting, as well as dissemination of matter harmful to minors, a Level 6 felony. Level 1 is the highest level of felony charge below murder.
If he is released on bond, Minor was ordered to have no contact with the victims or their households and he will be on electronic monitoring through Brown County Community Corrections. His jury trial was scheduled for Wednesday, Sept. 11 at 8 a.m.
