BROWNSTOWN
A Jackson Circuit Court jury convicted a 32-year-old man Thursday on a Level 4 felony count of child molesting and a Level 6 felony count of domestic battery in the presence of a child.
Johnny Riley Jonas of Seymour will be sentenced at 3:30 p.m. Nov. 29 by Judge Richard W. Poynter after a pre-sentence investigation conducted by the Jackson County Probation Department.
He faces a potential prison term of two to 12 years for the child molesting charge and six months to two and a half years for the battery charge.
The 12-member jury that handed down that verdict acquitted Jonas of two of other Level 4 felony counts of child molesting in the trial that began with jury selection Tuesday morning.
The jury began deliberations shortly after 10 a.m. Thursday and reached its verdict about four hours later.
The convictions stem from an incident in November 2016 when Jonas battered his then-wife over accusations he inappropriately touched two children under the age of 5.
In closing arguments, Deputy Prosecutor Josh Scherschel painted Jonas as a man who controlled his wife and attempted to control his victims.
The state called six witnesses to the stand, including Jonas’ ex-wife and one of the victims.
The victim said they were molested twice but only remembered one of the incidents.
Poynter permitted the use of a video interview at the Child Advocacy Center of Southeastern Indiana in Dillsboro as evidence for the incident they couldn’t remember because of the victim’s age.
On Wednesday, prosecutors played the recording of a telephone call Jonas placed while he was in the Jackson County Jail. He gave his estranged wife instructions to tell prosecutors she was lying.
Public Defender Jeremy Braunstein told the jury it was possible Jonas was tickling one of the victims when the incident occurred and may have unintentionally touched them. He also said the initial phone call to police was not to report Jonas molested anyone, but for battery.
Scherschel said the case was strong because of the victim’s interview at the Child Advocacy Center.
“It was very strong evidence,” he said.
He said the system did its job and the prosecutor’s office was glad to see justice for the victims.
Braunstein could not be reached for comment.