ANDERSON — A jury found an Anderson man guilty Tuesday of molesting his 7-year-old stepdaughter for nearly 6 months, but the child’s mother was found not guilty of neglect and aiding the molestation.
“We knew we had a tough case against the mom, but the big thing was him,” said Madison County Deputy Attorney Steve Koester. “It’s likely he’ll never see the light of day again. So that’s good.”
Randy Horton, 27, faces up to 324 years in prison on six counts of Class A child molestation and three counts of Class C child molestation. He is expected to be sentenced Dec. 7 in Madison Superior Court 3 by Judge Thomas Newman Jr.
Meanwhile, the girl’s mother, Sarah Moore, 27, was released from Madison County Correctional Facility after being found not guilty for Class C felony neglect of a dependent and Class A felony aiding, inducing or causing child molestation.
“I’m disappointed about the not guilty verdict for Sarah Moore, but I’m not surprised,” Koester said.
Koester said the girl — whose name will not be released based on the type of crime — couldn’t recall during her Thursday testimony whether she’d told her mother, although she indicated in a March police report that she had.
“It’s not unusual for the child’s memory to wane over that span of time,” he said.
In the graphic police report, detectives detail interviews with the girl. She described various sexual acts that her stepfather demanded and her mother ignored, the report said. Due to the graphic nature of those acts, The Herald Bulletin is not publishing details.
However, the girl gave staggering testimony Thursday that included demonstrations for the jury.
“I’m not at all surprised by the verdict because, in my 16 years of practicing law, I’ve never heard such compelling testimony from a child,” said Horton’s defense attorney Bryan Williams.
According to the police report, the molestation happened before school while Moore was sleeping. However, the report said, the girl told her mother what her stepfather had done after the first incident. The report said Moore would tell Horton to leave, but he didn’t.
The girl has been in the care of Indiana Child Protective Services since March. Moore’s defense attorney, Jason Childers, said he’s not sure if Moore will file a civil case to regain rights to the girl.
“This would at least be the first of several hurdles she would have to get through to make that happen,” Childers said.
Williams said Horton still maintains his innocence and will most likely file an appeal.
Contact Christina M. Wright, 640-4883, christina.wright@heraldbulletin.com.
Cops, courts and fires
Stepfather found guilty of child molestation
Mother found not guilty of neglect
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