By Noah Crenshaw | Daily Journal
The former owner of a Greenwood ice cream shop was arrested again this week after he failed to register as a sex offender in another county where he owns property.
John Cassin, 75, is charged with failure to register as a sex offender, a Level 6 felony. Prosecutors charged Cassin with the violation on Aug. 2. If convicted, he could face up to two-and-a-half years in jail.
Cassin, a former owner of Mrs. Curl, a well-known ice cream shop in the heart of downtown Greenwood, was sentenced in February 2020 on two counts of possession of child pornography, both Level 5 felonies, to be served concurrently. He did not serve prison time due to a plea agreement.
Johnson County Circuit Court Judge Andrew Roesener accepted the plea agreement which called for an open sentencing component with a cap of executed time at two years, the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office said at the time.
Roesener sentenced Cassin to three years, including a year on home detention and two years of probation. Cassin was required to register as a sex offender for life and was subject to the special conditions of a sex or violent offender.
Cassin did register as a sex offender in Johnson County, and reregistered yearly as required by law. However, when a probation officer visited Cassin’s Whiteland home in May, Cassin told the officer he was planning to visit his cabin on Sweetwater Lake in Brown County that weekend, according to court documents.
The officer informed the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office, which launched an investigation. Deputies determined Cassin does own land in Brown County, but was not registered as a sex offender there, court documents show.
Johnson County deputies contacted Cassin in early June about the Brown County property, and he confirmed he owns property in there, but said he did not know why he did not register in the county, according to court documents.
In late June, Cassin came into the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office voluntarily and registered the Brown County property. Deputies gave him the information needed to register the property with the Brown County Sheriff’s Office, court documents show.
A cyber tip from the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children led to an investigation by Greenwood police that began in October 2018, according to court documents.
Police searched Cassin’s home, including all of his computers and mobile devices, in March 2019 for traces of child pornography, according to court documents.
Investigators interviewed Cassin at that time, court documents show.
He told police he “just clicks on stuff” and might have accidentally uploaded something. When an investigator showed him the photo they received as part of the tip, Cassin said he had seen the image before and knew the child was under the age of 18.
He told police he used the desktop computer in his office to read the news and look at porn, court documents show. He denied downloading or storing any photos on the computer, police said.
Cassin said investigators would likely find a history of child porn activity dating back to when he bought the computer in May 2018, and said the computer he owned before that had three to four years worth of child porn activity on it, according to court documents.
He told police he had looked at pornography involving children as young as babies, including images of naked babies engaging in sexual activity, court documents show.
When asked about his internet search history, Cassin said he used specific search terms to locate the child pornography, police said.
He told police he never engaged in sexual activity with a minor, but was scared he would if he didn’t stop, according to court documents. Cassin said he stopped looking at child pornography in February 2019, court documents show.
However, a forensic examination of Cassin’s computer revealed that he viewed child pornography on Feb. 25, Feb. 26 and March 1, 2019.
Investigators also found numerous child pornography images on a Mrs. Curl user account, according to court documents.
Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva argued for prison time, but acknowledged that Cassin’s lack of criminal history and age affected the court’s decision.
“We are pleased that Cassin did receive some form of an executed sentence and will spend the rest of his life on the sex offender registry,” Villanueva said in February 2020.
The prosecutor’s office will pursue the violation case as they would any other similar case, said Ryan Bland, deputy prosecutor.
Cassin’s bond was set at $300. An initial hearing on the violation charge is set for Sept. 9.
