Bozell
A defendant who pleaded guilty to child molesting has been sentenced to 30 years in prison for forcing himself sexually upon a Columbus girl when she was 10 years old.
David Richard Bozell, 38, used video conferencing from an Indiana prison on Dec. 9 to plead guilty to child molesting as a Level 1 felony. All other charges filed in Bartholomew Superior Court 1 were dropped under terms of a plea agreement.
Terms stated that Judge James Worton could not hand down more than 30 years of executed time to Bozell, whose last permanent address was an apartment in the 700 block of California Street. While Worton could have refused terms of the plea bargain, the judge formally accepted them Wednesday.
Without the agreement,the defendant could have received over 78 years with the Indiana Department of Correction, as well as fines of up to $50,000. The original formal charges were four counts of child molesting and one count of dissemination of matter harmful to a minor.
Worton said he decided to go with the maximum sentence allowed by the agreement, stating that anything less would depreciate the seriousness of the case. Upon his release, Bozell will be required to register as a sex offender for the remainder of his life, the judge said.
On Aug. 31, 2023, officers were sent to a residence in the western Rocky Ford neighborhood of Columbus to investigate a report of sexual misconduct with a minor, according to a probable cause affidavit. The document also states the mother of a 10-year-old girl told officers her child had been touched sexually by Bozell.
Bozell also showed the girl adult videos and adult toys on his cell phone, as well as nude pictures of himself, according to court testimony.
Bozell had been a houseguest for about a month in the home of the girl’s mother who considered Bozell a childhood friend. Both the victim and the defendant slept in the basement, according to testimony.
During a Sept. 5, 2023 interview, the girl told investigators Bozell kept climbing into her bed, and the molestations became progressively worse during the three nights leading to Bozell’s arrest, Kummer testified.
In his sentencing, Worton said he found it especially troubling that Bozell would respond to a female friend’s kindness and generosity by molesting her daughter multiple times.
During police questioning, Bozell claimed repeatedly that the molestations would have never happened if he had not been drunk or high, Bartholomew County Prosecutor Lindsey Holden-Kay said in her closing statement Wednesday. While testifying in his own behalf, Bozell said he had been using drugs and alcohol since he was 13.
But since the molestations took place over three consecutive nights, Holden-Kay felt that blaming alcohol and narcotics was an effort by Bozell to blame something other than himself for his inexcusable actions. The county prosecutor also cited investigative reports that state Bozell showed no signs of being under the influence during questioning.
A search of Bozell’s cell phone showed he had multiple photos of himself naked. His browser showed multiple searches for pornography with story lines involving stepdaughters and stepfathers.
After an arrest warrant was issued in November, investigators learned Bozell was in the Dubois County Jail. Officials in Jasper put him behind bars a month earlier for possession of methamphetamine, driving while suspended, leaving the scene of an accident and possession of paraphernalia.
During sentencing, Worton cited Bozell’s extensive criminal history, which includes nine separate felony cases filed against him since 2008.
In all but two of those cases, Bozell was found guilty on charges ranging from forgery and resisting law enforcement to battery by bodily waste and auto theft. Four separate felony charges of possession of methamphetamine were included.
Worton said the only reason Bozell wasn’t considered a habitual offender is that he admitted guilt in the plea bargain.
