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Greencastle man, 20, facing sex misconduct charges involving Georgia girl, 15
A 20-year-old Greencastle man whose relationship with a 15-year-old Georgia girl reportedly began online and apparently escalated to physical contact is facing two counts of sexual misconduct with minor.
Ian Alan Daniels, who was arrested by Greencastle City Police Det. Michael Collins Tuesday night, made his initial court appearance Thursday morning before Judge Matt Headley in Putnam Circuit Court.
Not-guilty pleas were entered on Daniels' behalf to two counts of sexual misconduct with a child of at least 14 years of age but less than 16, a level 5 felony punishable by one to six years in prison.
One count of sexual misconduct alleges intercourse between Daniels and the minor, while the other count alleges his participation in oral sex with the underage girl.
Daniels was ordered held on $10,000 bond (with 10 percent allowed), while Judge Headley issued a no-contact order against him relative to the Georgia teenager.
The situation unfolded earlier this week when authorities reported the girl as a runaway after she left her home in Sugar Hill, Ga., an Atlanta suburb.
About 4:20 p.m. Tuesday, Officer Darrel Bunten located the reported runaway juvenile at the College Inn motel in Greencastle, where she was reportedly in the company of Daniels.
According to the probable cause affidavit filed in Putnam Circuit Court, both the girl and Daniels admitted having sexual relations with each other, not only at the local motel but also at the Days Inn at Cloverdale, a friend's home in Avon and in Georgia when Daniels reportedly went there to visit the girl.
Initially the girl told authorities she had run away from home after a family squabble and hitchhiked her way to Cloverdale, an improbable 550-mile trip.
She later recanted that story, claiming she did not want to get Daniels in trouble for driving down to Georgia and picking her up at a park near her home on Sunday, Aug. 2. They reportedly checked into the Cloverdale Days Inn later that night.
In the probable cause affidavit, Det. Collins noted that Daniels "admitted he knew it was wrong and against the law" to be involved in a sexual relationship with the 15-year-old.
The girl, who was transported to the Ladoga juvenile facility until her grandparents arrived from Georgia to pick her up, also told police that after they met online "a few years ago," Daniels had visited her in Georgia "a few times" and they had engaged in sexual activity then as well.
Daniels, who was returned to the Putnam County Jail, is being represented by court-appointed attorney Sid Tongret.
A pretrial conference in the case was set for Sept. 17.