A Greenwood man was arrested on a high-level child molestation charge, along with a woman prosecutors say knew about the abuse and tried to conceal it.
James William Thomas II, 37, is charged with child molesting, a Level 1 felony and child seduction, a Level 4 felony. Meghan R. Lucas, 35, also of Greenwood, is charged with two counts of neglect of a dependent, a Level 6 felony, two counts of obstruction of justice, a Level 6 felony, and two counts of failure to report, a Class B misdemeanor. They were both arrested on Tuesday.
Deputies from the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office began investigating Thomas and Lucas in August after a child reported details of the long-term abuse to authorities. Thomas is accused of molesting the child for years, while Lucas is accused of knowing about the abuse, failing to report it and attempting to conceal it after the fact, according to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
“We appreciate the hard work and dedication of the Johnson County Sheriff’s Office in investigating all types of sex crimes including sex crimes against children,” said Lance Hamner, Johnson County prosecutor. “This is how we keep our kids safe. I think I speak for all our citizens when I publicly thank Sheriff Duane Burgess and his detectives for their arduous and meticulous work in these kinds of cases.”
Court documents show the abuse occurred over several years, and included Thomas allegedly forcing the child to participate in sexual acts and making the child watch pornography, according to documents filed Sept. 30 in Johnson Superior Court 3.
When police served search warrants at Thomas’ home, Lucas referenced a situation where she caught Thomas in suspicious situations with the child. In both of these incidents, Lucas mentioned having “suspicion” but no “proof” of Thomas abusing the child, according to court documents.
These incidents reportedly occurred in 2019, meaning Lucas knew about the abuse for years without reporting it and removing the child from the situation.
Lucas also said cameras were placed in the upstairs hallway of the residence and the child’s bedroom and Thomas monitored these cameras from his cell phone. She also reportedly told detectives she believed Thomas was abusing the child, court documents say.
In 2022, Thomas was arrested in during a Johnson County Sheriff’s Office child solicitation sting. In this incident, Thomas responded to an advertisement on a website used for engaging in sexual acts between gay males. The “undercover officer” was posing as a 14-year-old boy. Lucas knew about this arrest and still took no action, court documents say.
A juvenile relative told detectives they knew the child was being abused, but were allegedly instructed to lie by Lucas when the Department of Child Services spoke to them about it.
Lucas also allegedly had a July 2023 screenshot of a conversation between the child and Thomas about the abuse. She also had a screenshot of an April 2023 search for “Is Indiana a mandatory reporting state; anyone who suspects a child has been neglected or abused must by state law make a report,” court documents says.
Thomas declined to speak with detectives about the allegations, court documents show.
Initial hearings for Lucas and Thomas had not yet been set as of Wednesday morning.
In the previous case from the child solicitation sting, Thomas was charged with child solicitation and possession of marijuana. He pled guilty to the drug charge and was sentenced to two days in jail.
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.
