A 79-year-old man has been arrested on a Level 1 felony charge after police say he molested a 7-year-old girl at homes in Avon and Brown County.
The investigation began Nov. 8 after the Avon Police Department received an anonymous tip that Alvin Lawhon had molested the child two weeks prior at his Avon home. She told a family member about it when she was picked up, according to a probable cause affidavit by Sgt. Jeremy Chapman with Avon Police.
Police interviewed the child on Nov. 14 and 15. She reported that Lawhon had molested her twice, and the first time was at a home in Brown County on Oct. 20. The second incident happened Oct. 21 in Avon, the report said.
The mother told police that she confronted Lawhon, and that he would not look her in the eyes; all he would say was, “Just kill me,” she said. A relative had to pull her off of him while she was hitting him, the report said.
Police spoke with other relatives who knew about the allegation. They told police that his reactions to being asked about it varied.
One relative said that Lawhon had a stroke five or six years ago and that he’s done “a few weird things, but nothing like that,” according to the affidavit. When she confronted Lawhon about the allegations, he began crying, saying, “I have no idea what happened. I don’t know why that happened,” the affidavit states. She said she never asked him directly about touching the child, but she was “pretty sure” he knew what she was talking about. She said he kept apologizing and saying he didn’t know why he did it, the affidavit states.
Another relative described Lawhon’s response as “pretty passive for somebody being accused,” the affidavit states. Lawhon did not say much and never asked what he was being accused of, and he is usually a person who stands up for himself, the relative said.
A third relative also spoke with Lawhon about the allegations, and she said that Lawhon responded, “I can understand how she thought that,” about the victim.
Chapman noted that the victim provided “very specific” details about the incidents. “I have found that victims with such profound details are consistent with actual encounters,” the officer wrote.
Lawhon, whose primary address is in Avon, was booked into the Brown County jail on July 27. He was being held on $75,000 bond and is to have with no contact with the victim or her immediate family. He bonded out on July 31 by posting $7,500 cash.
