A local man has been sentenced to 30 years in prison after being convicted of child molesting.
No part of the sentence handed down to Nic olas Marcuez-Arroyo, 35, of 3219 Henry Lakes Blvd. will be suspended, according to Bartholomew Circuit Court Judge Kelly Benjamin.
The female victim was only 12 when she talked with Sgt. Greg Duke of the Bartholomew County Sheriff’s Department in early 2018, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in the case.
The girl told Duke that Marcuez-Arroyo had been having sexual relations with her for a substantial amount of time, the affidavit stated.
In that document, Detective Lt. Chad Swank described the defendant as the live-in boyfriend of one of the victim’s family members.
Swank also wrote that when he interviewed Marcuez-Arroyo, the defendant admitted having sexual relations with the child for approximately 10 months.
Marcuez-Arroyo was arrested Jan. 9, 2018, on two counts of child molesting as Level 1 felonies. On the same day, a no contact order was issued to keep the defendant and the victim apart, court records state.
A decision was eventually made to keep Marcuez-Arroyo in the Bartholomew County Jail without bond, where he spent 443 days prior to his sentencing on March 21, court records state.
Bartholomew County Sheriff Matt Myers described the handling of the case as “a good investigation by all involved.”
Several court hearings for Marcuez-Arroyo were scheduled throughout last year, including tentative trial dates, but most were postponed for a variety of reasons.
On March 21{sup}st{/sup}, Judge Benjamin accepted a plea agreement where prosecutors agreed to dismiss one of the Level 1 felonies in exchange for the defendant pleading guilty to the other.
A conviction on just one count of a Level 1 felony carries a potential sentence of 20 to 40 years, as well as a fine of up to $10,000.
“Our children are safer with this man off our streets,” Myers said.
