***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: March 13, 2015

12 YEAR OLD VICTIM ASKS TO TESTIFY AFTER DEFENDANT PLED GUILTY, TAYLOR SENTENCED TO 45 YEARS

Media Contact: Curtis T. Hill, Jr. (574) 296-1888

On February 9, 2015 with the Superior Court 3 courtroom full of jurors and the victim waiting to testify, Dean Taylor, 43, from Goshen, decided that a trial was not in his best interest and pled guilty to Attempted Child Molesting, a Class A felony. Typically, once a defendant chooses to plead guilty, the victim is saved from testifying and the court proceeds to a sentencing hearing to determine an appropriate sentence under the law and the facts of the case. When the victim, who was only seven years old when the crime occurred, was presented with the news that she would not have to testify, she asked to address the court and explain to the presiding judge what Dean Taylor had done to her.

Just hours after Dean Taylor pled guilty, a hearing was scheduled in the Elkhart County Superior Court 3 courtroom before Judge Teresa L. Cataldo. At that hearing in the presence of the defendant, the victim, now twelve years old, explained to Judge Cataldo while fighting through tears what Dean Taylor had done to her, and how it has significantly affected her over the course of the last seven years. Through those tears, the victim told the court that Dean Taylor had molested her and had shown her images of pornography; an apparent attempt to groom her into accepting his sexual advances.

On March 12, 2015, the court conducted a sentencing hearing for Dean Taylor. After reflecting on the testimony of the victim, and taking into consideration Dean Taylor’s criminal history, which included a conviction for possessing child pornography, Judge Cataldo sentenced Dean Taylor to forty-five years at the Indiana Department of Correction. This case was handled by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Peter Britton.

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“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”