Versailles, IN—Dustin Crabtree, age 32 of Milan, was convicted by a jury of Level 1 felony Child Molesting on July 31st. The jury deliberated for three hours following a two day trial in Ripley County. He faces a possible sentence of 20-50 years on his sentencing date, August 23rd. Prosecuting Attorney, Ric Hertel, represented the State throughout the trial.
Hertel noted the child victim from this case had just turned 5 about a week before she testified at a pre-trial hearing, saying it was a very difficult undertaking for her. At times she answered while hidden below the witness stand.
A key factor in this trial was for the jury to see a video of her interview at the Child Advocacy Center by a trained forensic interviewer vs. the courtroom with the perpetrator present. Hertel noted those were key rulings that the State won to help sway the outcome of this case. Without physical evidence, the jury had to base its decision on what the child said and statements made by the perpetrator to State Police Detectives. Hertel commented that the two State Police Detectives involved were outstanding throughout the case, from the initial involvement obtaining key statements from the perpetrator and their testimony at the trial.
