Putnam County man charged with molestation

Tuesday, April 15, 2008

Vernon Fredrickson, 51, Coatesville, was booked into the Putnam County Jail on Thursday, April 10 on charges of child molestation.

Fredrickson is alleged to have molested a child in his care between 2001 and 2004. According to the affidavit, the incidents happened no more than 10 times and no less than two.

The family member spoke with a member of Child Protective Services on Feb. 6, where she outlined the instances that she says occurred.

"All but one [incident] happened in Bainbridge. The one incident happened out of state while on vacation," according to the probable cause affidavit.

Indiana State Police Detective Deanna Jones stated that on Feb. 28, she spoke with the mother of the victim to ask what her knowledge of situation was. The mother said she suspected something when the girl was around the age of 7. She then confronted Fredrickson and said, "he was so sorry and that it only happened once."

The mother said at that time, she did not question the child about the activities. However, the child did have a talk with Fredrickson at one point following the first incident where he told her, "I know it was wrong and I'm sorry," and that it happened "because [Fredrickson] was a pilot and was gone a lot and didn't get enough attention when I was home," according to the affidavit.

Detective Jones stated that on Feb. 18, she telephoned Fredrickson and requested an interview. She stated that Fredrickson never asked what the case was about or what it involved.

He also never asked any questions but simply wanted to set the meeting as soon as possible.

On Feb. 19, Fredrickson left a message at the State Police Post requesting that Jones call him. According to the affidavit, when she did, he indicated he was going to acquire an attorney.

On Feb. 21, Jones received a fax from the Attorney Carolyn Rader requesting that Jones let her know when a warrant would be issued because she would like to surrender her client.

Fredrickson had an initial court appearance and has since been released on bond.

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  • Such a sad story. In my opinion, this news article provides way too many details. Save it for the trial. All this does is re-traumatize the victim in public. Does the victim need all this out there? I'm very disappointed how insensitively the Banner handled this story.

    -- Posted by testmet on Tue, Apr 15, 2008, at 3:24 PM
  • I agree with "testmet". This article re-traumatizes the victim. Isn't there anyway the Banner could use more discretion? I am more than disappointed in the way this was reported. I am appalled.

    -- Posted by just1opin on Wed, Apr 16, 2008, at 9:58 AM
  • So we should raise public awareness at the expense of the innocent person in the crime? Rather heartless. Wouldn't it be better to ASK other victims to come forward with their stories? That accomplishes the same thing without harming anyone.

    -- Posted by testmet on Wed, Apr 16, 2008, at 6:05 PM
  • I believe my comment simply stated "tragic", I don't know why it got deleted.

    It is in fact tragic for the little girl to be such a victim. It is also tragic for the mother to suffer this ordeal as well, but she deserves no punishment unless she willfully put this child in danger. Sometimes kids can recover from these things better without being dragged through court proceddings and public knowledge of the abuse.

    -- Posted by Xgamer on Wed, Apr 16, 2008, at 9:21 PM
  • They Deleted the articles simply because people were slandering the name of a totally different person. The man arrested was Vernon Fredrickson, NOT Vernon Hendrickson. People really should just get the facts straight before they start talking about something they know nothing about.

    -- Posted by TheLordismyShephard on Thu, Apr 17, 2008, at 8:36 AM
  • i'd have to agree. this article has way to much detail. This girl is my best friend and she was really upset about it coming out in the paper. and it has to be THIS detailed? why?

    -- Posted by justbelieve on Thu, Apr 17, 2008, at 5:48 PM
  • Trapper, I didn't say anything about the mother, I simply stated that people were slandering the name of Vernon Hendrickson, when the name of the person who committed the crime is Vernon Fredrickson. There fore like i have said before, people talk about stuff they do not have real info on.

    -- Posted by TheLordismyShephard on Thu, Apr 17, 2008, at 6:42 PM
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