Huffman
A Greenwood man was convicted of felony child molestation after a jury trial Wednesday.
Richard M. Huffman, 53, was convicted on a single charge of child molesting as a Level 4 felony in Johnson County Circuit Court Wednesday afternoon. He faces up to 12 years in prison and a $10,000 fine.
Huffman was originally charged with child molesting as a Level 1 felony in October 2019. However, during trial preparations with the victim, prosecutors discovered there was a miscommunication between the victim and the detective during the initial interview in regard to the nature of the touching. Because of this, prosecutors amended the charges to a Level 4 offense, which covers fondling and touching, according to a Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office news release.
The case was first brought to the attention of local law enforcement in September 2019. Deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office were dispatched to a Greenwood home when a child, who was eight at the time, reported Huffman had touched them inappropriately sometime between April and June 2019, according to a probable cause affidavit filed in October 2019.
The child told police they were lying in bed and Huffman was lying behind them when he touched the child inappropriately three times, according to court documents.
The child also told police the touching only stopped when they pushed his hand away. Huffman later apologized to the child and told them not to tell anyone that it happened, court documents said.
The child’s mother told police she was talking to the child about body safety in September, and the child told their mother that Huffman had touched them, court documents said.
Police attempted to interview Huffman, but at the time of the initial interview, Huffman told police he would not be interviewed without an interpreter because he is deaf. There was not an interpreter immediately available, court documents said.
Police later contacted him and said an interpreter would be paid for by the sheriff’s office. His lawyer returned the call and said Huffman would not be interviewed, according to court documents.
Both the child and Huffman testified during the trial, which had two full days of testimony. The trial had challenges due to prosecutors presenting the case with multiple witnesses who were hearing impaired, which led to the use of multiple sign language interpreters simultaneously. The court also had to record video of the testimony in case there is an appeal, the release says.
“To my knowledge, nothing of this magnitude has ever been done before here in Johnson County,” Johnson County Prosecutor Joe Villanueva said in the statement.
The jury deliberated for four hours before coming back with a guilty verdict, the release says.
Huffman was taken into custody at the Johnson County jail following the verdict, according to jail booking records.
A sentencing hearing is set for May 9, according to online court records.
Huffman’s attorney declined to comment on the verdict.
