Tucker
A local man who accepted a plea bargain in a child molesting case was sentenced to 20 years in prison after admitting he molested a 13-year-old female.
Joseph B. Tucker, 54, Columbus, pleaded guilty to one Level 1 felony count of child molesting, and in exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop a second charge of child molesting, as well as a Class B misdemeanor of furnishing alcohol to a minor.
During the hearing in Bartholomew Superior Court 1, a separate case charging Tucker with invasion of privacy and violation of a protective order was dismissed.
Judge James Worton also ordered that Tucker receive credit for the 861 days he has already spent in the county jail, court officials said. The defendant did not receive an enhanced sentence and no restitution was ordered.
The case against Tucker began on Oct. 3, 2020, with a complaint of child molesting called in to the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department, a probable cause affidavit states.
After deputies met with the 13-year-old female victim and her guardians in their home, the girl was taken to Riley Hospital for Children in Indianapolis for a sexual assault examination, sheriff deputies said.
Four days after the assault, the victim was questioned at Susie’s Place, a Bloomington child advocacy center for the investigation of reported child abuse and neglect. The victim said Tucker had long been an family acquaintance and she was dropped off at his home on the day of the assault.
The victim said she was first given liquor and cigarettes by the defendant before he made her watch pornography with him. According to the girl, Tucker began removing her clothes and performing a sex act on her, deputies said. The victim told deputies she was later taken into a bedroom and forced to engage in sexual activities, court documents state.
After an arrest warrant was issued for Tucker, deputies sent both a DNA sample taken from the defendant and the sexual assault kit used to examine the victim to the Indiana State Police Laboratory, which identified Tucker as the assailant, the affidavit states.
