A northern Bartholomew County man has admitted that he had sexual relations with two girls who were 11 and 15 at the time.
Nearly 18 months after his arrest, Dylan J. Carley on Monday accepted a plea agreement that allows him to plead guilty to two counts of child molesting as Level 3 felonies, as well as one additional count of sexual misconduct with a minor, which is a Level 4 felony.
Sentencing for Carley, 23, of 14080 N. County Road 300E, has been scheduled for Aug. 1 at 11 a.m. before Bartholomew Superior Court 1 Judge Jim Worton.
Delays in the case were largely the result of an unsuccessful effort made by Carley to hire a private attorney, rather than a public defender, court records state.
Under the plea agreement dated April 7, 2017, Bartholomew County Deputy Prosecutor Greg Long agreed the total sentence will not exceed 43 years in prison.
That is in contrast to the maximum 92 years Carley was facing if convicted of criminal charges as they were drafted early last year.
In addition, the agreement states prosecutors will not file any additional charges as a result of their investigation.
Worton has the authority to either accept or reject the plea agreement during sentencing.
The first report of a child molestation involving Carley was made Dec. 30, 2015 according to a probable-cause affidavit filed by a Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department detective.
Investigators interviewed an 11-year-old girl, who said the defendant began making advances toward her Christmas Eve or Christmas night of 2015, according to the affidavit.
During questioning, Carley not only admitted molesting the 11-year-old while under the influence of alcohol but also stated he has previously engaged in a sexual act with another girl who he believed to be 15 years old, the affidavit said.
Although Carley was arrested Dec. 30, 2015, on a preliminary charge of sexual misconduct, details regarding the case were temporarily withheld as investigators worked to locate and later question the second girl, the affidavit stated.
Swank found the older girl, who said her encounter with Carley took place between June 1 and July 21, 2015, the affidavit stated.
On Jan. 6, 2016, Carley was charged with two counts of child molesting as Level 1 felonies, as well as sexual misconduct with a minor as a Level 4 felony.
Upon receiving the charges, Worton first issued a no-contact order to protect the two victims before he increased the defendant’s bond from $75,000 to $500,000, court records state.
