Bray
A Franklin man faces decades in jail after he was convicted Tuesday of two high-level child molesting offenses.
Mark Bray, 52, was convicted of child molesting, both as a Class A Felony and as a Level 1 Felony.
He was sentenced to 30 years in prison with another 10 years on probation in Johnson Superior Court by Judge Doug Cummins. The two counts will be run concurrently, and Bray will be required to register as a sex offender for life, according to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Bray was convicted in court Tuesday after previously pleading guilty on May 28. He had additionally faced several lower-level child sex crime charges, however his conviction reflects the high possible charges among those he faced.
The investigation into Bray began after Edinburgh police were notified by a former Johnson County resident that her children reported several sexual abuse incidents. The woman had been watching a documentary about crimes against children when one of the children spoke up about an incident, and the other children later reported incidents as well, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The case against Bray was filed in 2022 for incidents that had taken place between 2011 and 2017 in both Edinburgh and Greenwood. The charges are from a series of incidents that occurred with four different children over those six years, court documents say.
The Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office praised the victims for their courage in coming forward.
“I am so very proud of our child victims when they step forward and report these horrific experiences so that this won’t happen to another child.” Deputy Prosecutor Brianna Acker said in a statement. “It’s hard to comprehend the level of courage this takes.”
Johnson County Prosecutor Lance Hamner is pleased with the sentence.
“I’m proud of our detectives and deputy prosecutors who work so hard to protect our children,” Hamner said in a statement. “Molesting a child is depraved and despicable. When Mr. Bray gets out of prison he will be an old man. I hope we’re sending a message to other sickos: when you prey on helpless children you will spend decades in a 10-by-10 steel cage, eating nothing but prison food. Don’t even think about it.”
Non-emergency help dealing with sexual assault resources is available at Franklin-based ASSIST Indiana at 317-739-4456. For a list of Indiana resources, visit icesaht.org/get-help/. For emergency help dealing with sexual assault call or text 911 to report the crime.
