Minor
After five days of trial, it took a local jury around five hours to find a local man guilty on three counts of child molestation.
On Dec. 9, James R. Minor II, of Gold Point Road, was convicted by a jury of 12 of Level 1 felony child molesting, Level 4 felony child molesting and a Level 6 felony for dissemintation of matters harmful to minors. He now faces 50 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections.
Minor was charged with the Level 6 felony for showing pornography to the victim, according to a press release from the Brown County Prosecutor’s Office.
“This case has been pending for far too long, “ Prosecutor Ted Adams said in the press release.
“I know justice comes as a tremendous relief for our 11-year-old victim. She was 8- to 9-years old when this incident happened. That’s a long time for a kid to think about the terrible things that happened to her.
“I hope this helps her find the peace to move along and leave this terrible incident behind her.”
The abuse allegedly occurred from November 2018 to June 2019, according to court documents.
The investigation began in July 2019 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.
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.
Six days after the investigation began in July 2019, 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 later reported finding pornographic material on Minor’s cell phone, according to the probable cause affidavit filed.
During an interview with Shrader at the Brown County Law Enforcement Center, Minor continued to deny touching the child inappropriately.
The trial
The pandemic has been a major source of the delay in the ability to bring cases to trial, especially larger cases that require 12 jurors and a large jury pool.
“These are hard-hitting cases and emotionally draining. Kudos to the jury for hanging in there,” Chief Deputy Prosecutor Rob Seet said. Seet tried the case with Adams.
The jury heard from the victim about how over the course of approximately six months Minor repeatedly molested her when she stayed at a relative’s house in Brown County. She was on the witness stand for hours. She testified about how Minor would sexually molest her and had touched her inappropriately more than 10 times, according to the release.
The jury also heard from Shrader, the lead detective on the case, and how he further believed Minor was guilty after the victim accurately described pornography she had observed on Minor’s phone that was later found on Minor’s phone by police.
The jury also heard from a trained forensic child interviewer who testified that she observed no coaching or alternative theories when the victim disclosed her story, nothing that her story remained consistent. At the trial evidence was also presented that a sexually transmitted disease test, with a 98.3 percent accuracy rate, came back positive for a sexually transmitted infection when the victim was only 9 years old. A week later, a different lab yielded a negative test, according to the press release.
Testimonies from experts were also heard that provided explanations for the two different results, the release states.
Adams and Seet argued the test result along with the testimony from the other alleged victim of Minor’s molestation corroborated the young girl’s claims.
They argued there was no motive for her to make up a false story about Minor.
“I came up with 15 reasons why she would not make up the story,” Seet said, noting the list included her love of visiting the relative who lived in the home with Minor.
“And that’s a non-exhaustive list.”
Minor testified on his own behalf and denied the allegations against him.
During the trial, Adams introduced evidence showing Minor attempted to meet women he met online.
“It was relevant when demonstrating why a 9-year-old girl has a sexually transmitted infection,” Adams said of the evidence.
“There are no winners in such a tragic crime. These types of cases rip a family apart.”
Adams said Minor must now be kept in prison “for as long as the court deems appropriate.”
“So that he can never do these things to another little girl,” he continued “It will be my goal to make sure he never has the opportunity to do so again.”
Minor was defended by public defender Jacob Moore.
“This was an extraordinary trial,” Moore said.
“Unfortunately, with sentencing and an appellate process still to unfold, it would be inappropriate to comment any further at this time.”
Minor was acquitted of a second Level 4 felony for child molesting involving another child related to the victim. That child also disclosed to police in 2019 that he had been inappropriately touched by Minor, but in his testimony used at the trial two years later he stated that Minor had not touched him inappropriately.
Sentencing has been set for Jan. 13, 2022 at 9 a.m.
Following the conclusion of the trial, Minor was booked into the Brown County jail and is being held on no bond.
