Doty
JENNINGS COUNTY — A Jennings County judge has denied a request for a change of venue by a 15-year-old teenager accused of raping a special needs student on a school bus, with a trial set to start in two months.
Attorney Bradley Kage had argued in a court filing that Landon Doty, 15, North Vernon, “cannot receive a fair trial in Jennings County” due to “extensive pre-trial publicity on television and social media.”
Kage had also stated in the request that he received an anonymous voicemail “expressing an opinion about the defendant’s guilt and that he should plead guilty” and that “many members of the Jennings County, Indiana, community have expressed their opinion that the defendant is guilty.”
He also cited in the request that Indianapolis television station WTHR filmed Doty’s initial hearing last month and then broadcast it later that day and the following day.
Jennings Circuit Court Judge Murielle Bright denied the request without providing more details, according to court filings.
A hearing on a request by Doty seeking to bar prosecutors from introducing evidence about alleged previous “incidents” between the defendant and the alleged victim has been scheduled for Sept. 15.
A jury trial has been scheduled for Oct. 20.
Doty has pleaded not guilty to 12 charges, including four felony counts of rape, two felony counts of child molesting, four felony counts of sexual battery, one count of criminal confinement and one misdemeanor count of public indecency.
In June, Doty was booked into the Jennings County Jail after a magistrate judge ordered the teenager to be tried as an adult, citing “heinous” conduct and a “repetitive pattern of delinquent acts” captured on the Jennings County School Corp.’s school bus’s camera “over a period of several weeks,” according to court records.
“The child is beyond rehabilitation under the juvenile justice system; and it is in the best interest of the safety and welfare of the community that the child stand trial as an adult,” Doran states in his decision to move the case to adult court.
A probable cause affidavit filed in Jennings Circuit Court alleges that North Vernon police were dispatched to Jennings County Middle School, located at 820 W. Walnut St. in North Vernon, on April 17 regarding “an unknown issue at the school’s transportation building.”
When the officers arrived, the school’s principal allegedly showed them video from the school bus’ camera that was taken after school the day before as the students were on their way home, the probable cause affidavit states.
The probable cause affidavit describes the alleged sexual assault and includes investigators describing incidents of oral sex and rape.
At one point, the bus monitor allegedly walked over to Doty and asked what was going on. The bus monitor then allegedly told the bus driver to pull over and “stated that the bus video needs to be reviewed.” The students were then separated.
The bus monitor and driver were not named in the probable cause affidavit.
Doty was allegedly taken from class and his guardian, his maternal grandmother, was called to come to the school. She allegedly said her brother would come because she was in Indianapolis.
When her brother arrived, the principal allegedly advised that “an incident took place and is being handled by the police department.”
Doty was placed into handcuffs and escorted inside a patrol car. Once the officer got into the car, Doty allegedly said, “I’m basically screwed,” according to information in the probable cause affidavit.
The judge’s order states that the victim suffers from moderate to severe autism and is non-verbal. The order also states that Doty is allegedly of “normal intelligence” and is not a special needs student, raising questions about why he was repeatedly allowed to ride the special needs school bus, according to court documents.
It is also not clear in the court documents how Doty was able to repeatedly hide the alleged conduct from the bus monitor and driver.
“The alleged delinquent’s crimes were perpetrated on the victim over a period of several weeks while he was riding the schools bus to and from school, establishing a repetitive pattern of delinquent acts,” Doran states in his order. “The alleged delinquent’s conduct was captured on video cameras on the bus. …The alleged delinquent’s criminal conduct appears to be calculated, indicating that he knew what he was doing was wrong. It appears in the videos that he would stop his criminal conduct anytime he thought someone may observe him, then continue his criminal conduct when he felt safe to continue without detection.”
The magistrate judge’s decision also quotes juvenile probation officer Andy Judd, who allegedly recommended that Doty be tried as an adult, stating that “the alleged conduct he observed is the worst he has seen during his 39-year career.”
