Johnny Vaughn Responds to Plea Agreement in Child's Death

TERRE HAUTE, Ind. — Democratic candidate for Vigo County Prosecutor Johnny Vaughn today issued the following statement regarding the plea agreement in the case involving the tragic death of a 12-year-old.

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"The death of a child should demand the highest level of accountability our justice system can provide.

According to the publicly reported plea agreement, the defendant was sentenced to a total of ten years, with four years in the Department of Correction, three years on Community Corrections, and three years on probation.

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Indiana law establishes sentencing ranges, but it does not require a plea agreement in which a substantial portion of the sentence is served outside of prison. Those terms are negotiated.

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My concern is not simply the number of years. My concern is how this plea agreement was structured. In a case involving the tragic death of a 12-year-old child, I do not believe the majority of the punishment should be served on Community Corrections and probation.

This plea agreement also resolved the case through negotiated guilty pleas to two Level 5 felonies. When evaluating accountability, the public should look at the plea agreement as a whole, not just one part of it.

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Reasonable people can disagree about the exact sentence that should have been sought. But I believe victims and their families deserve plea agreements that reflect the seriousness of the harm that was done.

When crimes involving children are resolved in a way that leaves our community questioning whether justice was done, public confidence in the criminal justice system suffers.

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Vigo County deserves a Prosecutor's Office that will pursue accountability, put victims first, and treat crimes against children with the seriousness they deserve."