Post by WaTcHeR on Sept 12, 2006 16:40:47 GMT -5
Officer Robert Carter
09.12.2006 - A Marion police officer already facing federal mortgage fraud charges now is facing a felony child molestation count here in Grant County.
Officer Robert Carter, 35, a 13-year veteran of Marion Police Department, has been on administrative leave without pay since March 7, 2005. He turned himself in Tuesday on a warrant for a Class C felony count of child molesting, and subsequently was released from the Grant County Jail on $15,005 bond.
The charges were filed after a two-month investigation by the Indiana State Police, who were called in to handle the investigation due to Carter's connection to the police department.
"It should be noted that officers of the Marion Police Department assisted in the initial stages of the case, and that should give a clear statement to the people of the community that no person is above the law," Police Chief David Gilbert said. "... I believe that my staff and I have sent an unmistakable signal to the citizens of this community that we will not look the other way in terms of illegal activity, no matter who is involved."
Court documents said Carter inappropriately touched a 12-year-old child who was attending a birthday party for one of his children.
The documents say, June 23 at Carter's 2311 S. Boots St. home, the children had been watching a movie on a television connected to a van. Some of the children began to get tired, so the group decided to sleep in the van, which is where Carter touched the child inappropriately, court records said.
After the incident occurred, the child quickly left the van and Carter followed the child out, court records said, and the two talked on the porch. While on the porch, Carter told the child he thought the child liked him. After their conversation was over, the child went back to the van and told the other children what had happened. Carter spent the rest of the night in the house.
According to court records, the next day, Carter told the child he would give the child $10 not to tell anybody. He also spoke with the other children and gave them all $5. After Carter, his wife, Michelle, and the children all drove to Fort Wayne for a birthday party, the child called the child's family and was driven home, records said.
Another child who was at the party said, on the way back from Fort Wayne, Carter told the children that if he got into trouble for this, he would not be able to see any of them anymore. Carter's wife, Michelle, also told them that the child was lying, court records said.
July 20, Carter was interviewed by Indiana State Police and denied the allegations.
The child molesting charge comes more than a year and a half after Carter, along with nine others, was federally indicted in connection with an alleged mortgage fraud scheme.
The defendants are accused of perpetrating a $2 million mortgage fraud scheme in which homes were bought cheaply and sold at an inflated price before the owner defaulted on the mortgage. Federal prosecutors said doctored loan applications were used to persuade unsuspecting banks to lend more money than the homes were worth. After foreclosure, the proceeds were distributed to the participants in the scheme, prosecutors said.
The scheme allegedly took place in 2002 and involved more than 40 properties, 12 of them in Grant County. Investigators in the 31-month probe included representatives of the Internal Revenue Service, the FBI and the Postal Inspection Service.
Court documents say Carter is scheduled to face the federal charges Monday in U.S. District Court, Southern District, Indianapolis.
Until the case is resolved, Carter remains on unpaid administrative leave, Deputy Chief Cliff Sessoms said.
"Whether you like it or not, he's still considered innocent until proven guilty in a court of law," Sessoms said.
"The most recent conflict that Mr. Carter has had with the law reaffirms that seeking the termination of his employment was exactly the right course of action, and we stand by that decision," Gilbert said.
Carter is scheduled to be arraigned at 9 a.m. Friday in Grant Circuit Court on the local charge.
www.chronicle-tribune.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20060907/NEWS01/609070321/1002/NEWS01