Former Lebanon pediatrician gets 19 years in prison for child-sex crimes
LEBANON, Ind. (WISH) — A former doctor was sentenced Thursday to 19 years in prison after a jury convicted him earlier this year on five child-sex charges.
Lebanon Police Department in February 2019 arrested Dr. Jonathon Cavins, 46, of Jamestown, after being accused of fondling a 12-year-old patient on Feb. 4, 2019, during a routine physical at Witham Health Services Pediatrics. Detectives said that “Dr. Cavins fondled the penis of the 12-year-old victim with the intent to arouse either his sexual desires or the sexual desires of the male victim.”
Police said the boy’s parents were not in the room at the time of the incident.
Within days, other victims came forward and additional charges were filed. In April 2019, more charges were filed. A state board in March 2019 revoked his medical license.
Patients said, during routine physicals, the doctor offered them condoms, asked questions about their sexuality and touched them, and told patients the touching was routine and part of the exam, according to the petition to suspend Cavins’ license filed by the Indiana attorney general. Lebanon Police Department Detective Tony Bayles, who led the investigation on Cavins, has said the allegations go back to 2016.
Some charges against Cavins were dropped prior to this jury trial in February. The jury found him guilty of two counts of child molesting, a count of sexual misconduct with a minor, and two counts of child seduction. A news release from the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office on Thursday said, “The convictions and sentence stem from acts perpetrated on the 5 different victims by Dr. Cavins while acting in the course as a pediatrician.”
County Prosecutor Kent T. Eastwood also issued a statement in the news release: “We are thankful that the boys showed such strength and courage in coming forward to tell their story of abuse. By doing so, Lebanon Police Department Detectives and members of the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office were able to obtain this important conviction on their behalf and on behalf of Our Community. We pray that this will serve as a beacon for other victims of sexual abuse to come forward to have their voices heard.”
After serving 19 years in prison, Cavins will be put on probation for four years.
Online jail records indicated Cavins on Thursday remained in the Boone County jail.
