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A couple from Benton County was arrested for meth Saturday afternoon.
Updated: Wednesday, 04 Mar 2009, 6:15 PM EST
Published : Wednesday, 04 Mar 2009, 1:23 PM EST
ANDERSON, Ind. (The Herald Bulletin) - According to the Anderson Herald Bulletin, an Anderson man was being held on $100,000 cash bond late Tuesday after he was arrested for what police say is one of the most heinous cases of sexual abuse they've investigated in recent memory.
Randy L. Horton, 26, was arrested Monday on suspicion of Class A felony child molestation, which is punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison if convicted. He has not been formally charged, however.
According to a police report written by Detective Jake Brooks:
The girl reported the allegations to a foster parent on Sunday, who then contacted police. The girl said the abuse began on her seventh birthday in August, and Horton would force her to perform sex acts. The alleged incidents would take place while the girl's mother slept, before the child went to school.
Horton would kick the girl or pull her hair if she refused to do what he wanted. He denied the allegations when questioned by police, and requested an attorney when he was arrested.
The Herald Bulletin is releasing few details surrounding what police say Horton did to the girl because of the graphic nature of the allegations.
However, a veteran Anderson police official with nearly three
decades of experience said it is one of the most vicious cases of
sexual abuse he's ever encountered.
"It's horrific," said Sgt. William Casey, department
spokesman. "It's heinous. In my 27 years of working here, I've
never seen anything like this. It's hard on the detective who had
to interview this 7-year-old girl."
This guy's a monster," Casey continued, "and he deserves everything he's got coming to him, too."
Officers also arrested the girl's mother, alleging she knew of the abuse, but failed to report it to police. The Herald Bulletin is withholding the mother's name because it could identify the girl. The Herald Bulletin doesn't generally identify alleged sex-crime victims.
According to court documents, the 7-year-old told investigators she reported the abuse to her mother after the first incident. The girl said her mother sometimes allowed her to hit Horton with a belt as "a form of discipline" for abusing her.
Magistrate Stephen Clase approved a request from prosecutors on Tuesday for an extra three days to determine what formal counts should be filed against Horton.
The magistrate also approved a prosecutor's office request to increase Horton's bond to $100,000 cash because "the defendant is considered to be a danger to the victim," according to court documents. The normal bond amount for a Madison County resident jailed on a Class A felony is $35,000.
The mother was being held on $5,000 cash bond late Tuesday on a single count of neglect, a felony punishable by six months to three years behind bars. As with Horton, prosecutors received an extra three days to file formal charges against her.
The girl has since been placed with the Indiana Department of
Children's Services.
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