Royalty
A Seymour man was given a six-year sentence after he pled guilty to conducting a sexual act with a minor in a Franklin hotel room.
William Tyler Royalty, 22, pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 4 felony, before Johnson County Superior Court 2 Judge Peter Nugent on July 20. He was sentenced the same day to six years, of which 354 days will be served in an Indiana Department of Correction facility, according to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
This 354 days will be followed by another 354 days of home detention with GPS monitoring, with the remaining balance of the six years on active probation. Royalty is required to register as a sex offender and a no-contact order remains in place, prosecutors say.
“We are pleased that justice was served in this matter and that it is what the victim and her family wanted,” Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said in a statement. “This is a first offense for this defendant and I am confident that it will be his last. He was cooperative and remorseful. He pled guilty as charged, with no reduction in the level of the crime.”
Franklin police began investigating Royalty in May 2022 after they were notified by the Department of Child Services about a case that had been transferred from Shelby County. Shelbyville police were investigating a shoplifting case and during that investigation, they learned of Royalty, who had sexual contact with a 14-year-old at a hotel on the 2000 block of Holiday Lane in Franklin sometime in April to early May 2022, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Documents from Shelbyville police’s investigation showed that Royalty was arrested for theft following a series of shoplifting incidents and that he was arrested with two juveniles. One of the juveniles told Shelbyville officers that Royalty was sexually involved with the teen, who was one of their friends, according to the affidavit.
The juvenile witness had been at the Frankin hotel with the teen, Royalty, and three other witnesses when she witnessed the teen and Royalty conduct a sexual act. The witness had taken a video of the act, which was provided to police, the affidavit shows.
The teen denied the allegations when contacted by Shelbyville police. When Franklin detectives spoke with them, they confirmed that the sexual act had taken place and that there was a video of it. The teen told detectives that Royalty had not asked them to do this, however, he did not stop it from happening, the affidavit says.
Detectives say the teen told them that Royalty was their best friend and that they knew he was 21 years old. The teen had met Royalty through a relative and said the pair had wanted to date when the teen turned 18, according to the affidavit.
Royalty denied dating the teen and conducting a sexual act with them when asked about it by detectives. The same day, Royalty backtracked and told detectives he had committed a sexual act with the teen and knew it was illegal. He also said that nude photographs of the teen had been sent to him, but he deleted them quickly after they were sent, the affidavit shows.
Police had also found two nude videos on the phone, the affidavit says.
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 dealing with sexual assault call or text 911 to report the crime.
