A Trafalgar man will serve 14 years in prison after being convicted of child molestation.
Carl M. Hendrickson, 54, was sentenced to 10 years in prison on one count of child molestation as a Level 4 felony by Johnson County Superior Court 2 judge Peter Nugent Thursday. He received an additional four years on a repeat sex offender enhancement, making his total sentence 14 years, according to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Hendrickson was convicted by a jury last month of one count of child molestation. He was also charged with a second count of child molestation as a Level 4 felony, but the jury found him not guilty of this count.
The Level 4 felony conviction carries a sentence of two to 12 years. Hendrickson was eligible for up to six more years, as prosecutors sought a repeat sex offender enhancement based on a separate molestation conviction in 1993.
Hendrickson was charged in March 2021 after a child reported Hendrickson had inappropriately touched her while tickling her. The child said Hendrickson “takes it too far.”
She also said he would touch her over and under her clothes, according to court documents.
In an interview with Trafalgar police, Hendrickson was very nervous and stressed in his body language and voice. He was breathing rapidly and clenching his fists together, court documents said.
When asked if he ever put his hand down the child’s pants for a prolonged period of time, he said, “I don’t rape kids.”
Hendrickson mentioned during the interview that he had similarly tickled a second child. Police interviewed that child as well, and the second child said he inappropriately touched her as well, according to court documents.
No live testimony was heard at Thursday’s sentencing, but a statement written by the victim was submitted for review, along with a pre-sentence investigation, prosecutors say.
Deputy Prosecutor Carrie Miles, who is chief of the Sex and Domestic Violence Crimes Division at the prosecutors’ office, argued for an aggravated sentence — a sentence that was greater than the advisory sentence of six years.
“Hendrickson was routinely trusted to watch these girls. The biggest aggravating factor was that position of trust,” Miles said in a statement.
Prosecutor Lance Hamner was pleased to see Hendrickson put in prison for the next 14 years.
“Putting dangerous criminals in cages where they can no longer hurt our citizens is what keeps our community safe,” Hamner said in a statement.
Non-emergency help dealing with sexual assault resources is available at Franklin-based ASSIST Indiana at 317-739-4456. For a complete list of resources from the Indiana Coalition to End Sexual Assault and Human Trafficking, visit icesaht.org/get-help/. For emergency help call or text 911 to report the crime.
