Convicted Child Molester Hit With Maximum Sentence

Fifty years in prison was the maximum sentence Dustin Crabtree could have received. That's exactly what a judge gave him.

Dustin B. Crabtree. Photo by Ripley County Sheriff's Office.

(Ripley County, Ind.) - A 50-year prison sentence has been ordered for a Milan man convicted of level 1 felony Child Molesting.

Dustin Crabtree was found guilty after a jury trial in Ripley County court last month. During that trial, the victim tried to hide herself from Crabtree by cowering under the witness stand.

The 32-year-old Crabtree returned to court for sentencing on Friday, August 23. Ripley Circuit Court Judge Ryan King sentenced “one of the worst of the worst offenders” to the maximum 50 years with no time suspended to probation.

King cited aggravating factors including Crabtree’s criminal history with a past conviction of Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Serious Violent Felon. The judge also noted his violation of position of trust, the psychological and emotional harm to the victim, and that there were several acts beyond one occasion.

“The Court also finds that Defendant’s sex acts were not just single act, but rather brought as one charge because showing a specific date and time of the crime was not practical due to tender age of victim. Because Defendant’s actions were much more than a single act of molest, but were rather instead a course of conduct, the court considers these facts significant aggravating factors of substantial weight,” King wrote in the sentencing order.

King said that Crabtree was using marijuana and cocaine around the time of the molestation.

If he is ever released from prison, Crabtree must register as a sex offender for life.

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