Powers
A Franklin man will serve 10 years in prison on a child molestation charge.
Tony E. Powers was sentenced to 10 years in the Indiana Department of Correction by Johnson Circuit Court Judge Andrew Roesener Thursday for a charge of child molesting as a Level 4 felony. He was also designated as a sex offender against children, requiring him to register for life. Powers was convicted by a jury of the charge on April 3, according to a Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office news release.
Prosecutors say Powers sexually fondled a child at a Franklin residence between 2017 and 2019. The incidents relating to the charge were first reported to Franklin police by a guardian of the child in June 2021, according to court documents.
The child told Franklin police and Indiana Department of Child Services Powers’ behavior seemed normal to them at the time, but in the years since the incidents they have learned it was inappropriate, court documents say.
On several occasions when the child stay over night, Powers came into the room and felt under the child’s clothing and did other inappropriate behaviors, court documents say.
The child told him they were uncomfortable with this, but Powers would continue until he heard another adult in the house, court documents say.
The case was prosecuted by Division Chief Carrie Miles and Deputy Prosecutor Brianna Acker. Miles asked the court for an aggravated sentence due to the lifelong damage he caused the victim, who read a statement indicating she “cannot forget the smell of his breath and feel of his hands touching her body,” according to the news release.
Prosecutors say Powers offered no words of apology or remorse to the victim or the family.
“I think Mr. Powers’ attitude speaks volumes about his character, or rather his lack of same,” Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner said in the news release. “I can’t think of a more despicable creature than someone who would do this kind of thing to a child. Mr. Powers is going to be put in steel cage for a decade where he won’t be able to hurt any more little children. I’m grateful to the Franklin Police Department and my deputy prosecutors for that. And mostly, I’m grateful to this brave young woman who stood up to this depraved individual and said, ‘No more.’”
Both the victim’s family and Hamner expressed appreciation to FPD Detective Adam Joseph for his “solid” investigation, which led to the conviction.
