A former Bartholomew County Sheriff’s deputy who worked as a Ceraland campground security volunteer has been charged in court with child molestation and other sexual offenses.
Larry L. Scott, 72, of 3281 N. County Road 625E, Hope, is accused of four felonies and a misdemeanor in the charges filed late Thursday by the Bartholomew County Prosecutor’s Office in Superior Court 1. Scott had been arrested Sunday after a police investigation that began the prior day.
Court documents state Scott is accused of:
Two counts of Level 4 felony child molesting involving a child younger than age 14, the most serious of the charges.
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A Level 6 felony charge of possession of child pornography, the lowest-level felony in Indiana
A second Level 6 felony charge of performing sexual conduct in the presence of a minor — involving a child younger than 14.
Class C misdemeanor possession of paraphernalia.
Preliminary arrest charges of child exploitation and sexual battery were not included in the formal charges.
Retired from the sheriff’s department, Scott was a volunteer supervisor on the night-time security detail at Ceraland, a nonprofit park, sports complex and campground located southeast of Columbus at 3989 S. County Road 525E.
Scott helped supervise Ceraland’s three security officers who patrol the campground’s 320 campsites, six cabins and five rental pop-up campers at night.
Scott stayed at a camper on the Ceraland property, officials said.
The probable-cause affidavit accompanying the charges states that an Indiana State trooper had documented a complaint about child molesting at Ceraland on July 21.
Trooper Korry Clark said in his report that a 12-year-old boy told state police he had been invited to Scott’s camper/trailer and that Scott exposed himself to the boy and took a photo of the youth, whose genitals were also exposed, the probable-cause affidavit states.
The two males also fondled each other while at the trailer, according to information the boy told a forensic interviewer with the Child Advocacy Center.
After Indiana State Police obtained a search warrant, they found the photograph of the boy on the suspect’s camera phone, the probable-cause affidavit states. The date and time stamp of the photo and the clothing the boy was wearing were consistent with the boy’s account of the incident, the document states.
State troopers also located a smoking device commonly used to consume controlled substances, containing ash, in the camper closet, the affidavit states.
When Scott was interviewed by state police, he said he had known the boy for about three years around the campground and said he would regularly give the boy snacks when he came by Scott’s camper.
On the day of the incident, Scott told state police that the boy invited the sexual contact between the two, the affidavit states. Scott admitted taking a picture of the boy’s exposed genitals, the document states.
Scott told state police that he told the boy not to tell anyone what happened because it was not the kind of thing people talk about.
Possible penalties
If convicted on the four felonies and one misdemeanor, Scott could face up to 12 years in prison on each of the Level 4 felony counts and up to two and a half years in prison on the Level 6 charge. Each count may carry a $10,000 fine. On the misdemeanor count, he could face up to 60 days in jail and a $500 fine.
Scott was held in the Bartholomew County Jail until Thursday night under a 72-hour hold and $750,000 bond, court records indicate. Scott’s bond is now set at $125,000 or 10 percent cash, deputies said.
Scott was transferred to another jail in southern Indiana at the request of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department after the charges against him were filed, sheriff deputies said Friday morning. Scott’s initial hearing in Bartholomew Superior Court 1, when he would be informed of charges he is facing, could be as soon as next week, court officials said.
The Columbus jail, with a listed capacity of 231 inmates, had a 250-inmate population Friday morning, deputies said. Because Scott needed to be segregated from the general jail population, Bartholomew County asked another county to house Scott for safety and overcrowding reasons, deputies said.
According to Ceraland officials, Scott was the liaison with local law enforcement for Ceraland security issues. He was also a Bartholomew County sheriff’s reserve deputy until Monday, when Sheriff Matt Myers terminated Scott’s affiliation with the department following the Sunday arrest.
Myers said Scott had been associated with the sheriff’s department since the early 1970s. Scott served as chief deputy under Sheriff Jim McKinney, who was elected in 1970, 1974 and again in 1982. Scott also worked as a reserve deputy for a number of other sheriffs over the years.
Scott, who was once commander of the reserve deputies for the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, received the Law Enforcement Officer of the Year Award presented by the Columbus Exchange Club in 1979.
