A jury found a Franklin man guilty of child molesting after a two-day trial this week.
James Franklin Fletcher, 50, is convicted of child molesting, and admitted to being a repeat offender Wednesday in Johnson County Superior Court 3.
Fletcher faced three charges of child molestation, a Class A felony, and three charges of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class B felony.
In February 2020, a woman reported to the Franklin Police Department that Fletcher had molested her six times when she was a child, between 2007 and 2011, according to a probable cause affidavit filed Nov. 4 in Johnson County Circuit Court.
The victim said Fletcher lived with her at the time of the incidents. She recalled three times he molested her in 2007 and 2008, and three more times in 2010 and 2011, according to court documents. She said Fletcher touched her inappropriately on multiple occasions, either with his fingers or mouth, and forced intercourse once, court documents said.
Though the victim is an adult now, she felt it was necessary to come forward to protect her own children and others, Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said in a statement.
Villanueva is satisfied with the outcome of the case, especially given the time that has elapsed since the abuse occurred.
“Victims in these kinds of cases already have doubts whether others will believe them when they describe the horrible things done to them, even when they make an immediate report. Those doubts grow with time. Given the lapse of over a decade for some of these allegations, I applaud this young lady for having the strength to come forward and tell the world what happened to her,” Villanueva said in a statement.
“It was through her courage that my office was able to work to see that James Fletcher can never do these kinds of things to anyone else again.”
Fletcher is charged under the A-D category of felony crimes instead of the current numbered scale because the crimes took place when that system was in place, Villanueva said.
Fletcher will also be sentenced according to penalties that were in place at that time. He could serve 20-60 years in prison.
A sentencing hearing is set for Oct. 25.
