Greenwood man accused of child molestation; police believe there are other victims

GREENWOOD, Ind. (WISH) - A Greenwood teenager is accused of molesting two teenage girls, and police believe there may be other victims who haven’t yet come forward.

Wesley Branham, 18, faces charges of child molestation, criminal confinement, and sexual battery.

24-Hour News 8 spoke with one of the victims and her mother.

“Your number one job as a parent, is to protect your kid against everything, all the bad stuff. When you can’t do that, it breaks your heart,” said the victim’s mother.

Court documents describe the night police say 18-year-old Wesley Branham brought two girls, ages 13 and 14, back to his home.

Detectives said the girls were under the impression they were going to a party, with others they knew there.

“We get into his house, he turns around and locks the door,” said one of the teen victims.

The young victim told said Branham first took the 13-year-old into his bedroom.

“He gets into the bed with her, he starts rubbing her arms and legs, and she says get off of me,” she added.

Documents show when the 13-year-old  tried to leave the locked room. Branham “pushed her back down and was attempting to touch the buckle area of her shorts.”

The 13-year-old told police he then did touch her during the night.

The 14-year-old described a similar situation.

“I felt like, I couldn’t do anything.” The victim said. “I was just sitting there, scared.”

Documents show Branham refused to let them go to the bathroom, and the girls were too scared to leave.

“Through the detectives’ investigation, they’ve found there probably are other victims out there,” said Assistant Chief Matthew Fillenwarth with the Greenwood Police Department. “That seems to be his MO, younger girls, impressionable."

The victim’s mother says she’s hoping if other girls were victimized, that they do tell someone.

“It’s got to be told. You can’t deal with it until you tell someone,” the mother added.

Branham remains in the Johnson County Jail, facing charges of child molestation, criminal confinement, and sexual battery.