Rossok to enter change of plea

Friday, November 12, 2010

GREENCASTLE -- A Greencastle woman accused of having a sexual relationship with a teenager she coached in a local softball league for girls 14 and younger was in court on Friday for an initial hearing.

Elizabeth A. "Beth" Rossok, 20, is charged with Class D felony sexual misconduct with a minor and Class A misdemeanor contributing to the delinquency of a minor.

The case against Rossok was filed through Putnam County Circuit Court, but Rossok went before Putnam County Superior Court Judge Denny Bridges for the initial hearing.

The court entered a preliminary not guilty plea on Rossok's behalf. Rossok's attorney, Todd Sallee, told Bridges his client wished to waive her right to a jury trial, and asked Bridges to set a change of plea hearing for Rossok.

Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said no plea agreements will be offered in the case.

Bridges set Rossok's change of plea hearing for Dec. 2. He set bond at $20,000 with 10 percent allowed, and Rossok's bond was posted shortly after the hearing concluded.

Sallee also asked that a protective order barring Rossok from having contact with any child under the age of 16 be amended so that Rossok could have contact with minor children in her family. Bridges ordered that Rossok could do so, but only in supervised settings.

The charges against Rossok were filed on Tuesday. She turned herself in and was booked into the Putnam County Jail on Wednesday.

Class D felonies are punishable by a maximum of three years in prison, while Class A misdemeanors carry a maximum sentence of one year.

Should Rossok be convicted, she would be listed on the Indiana Department of Corrections Sex and Violent Offender Registry -- which provides details about a convicted sex offender's identity, location and appearance -- for up to 10 years.

The investigation that led to Rossok's arrest began on Sept. 24 when the Putnam County Department of Child Services received a tip that Rossok may have been having a sexual relationship with a 15-year-old girl.

Court records said the girl told authorities she met Rossok in May of 2009, a couple of months after the girl's 14th birthday. The alleged victim played on a softball team Rossok coached.

The girl said she began a romantic relationship with Rossok, and that by August 2009 they were "kissing and making out."

The relationship continued to escalate and became sexual in nature, the alleged victim told police. The girl said the last time she and Rossok had sexual contact was a couple of days before the investigation began, and that most of her encounters with Rossok took place at Rossok's apartment.

Authorities seized the cell phones of both Rossok and the alleged victim. Court records said photographs of Rossok and the victim engaged in romantic activity were stored on both phones.

Court records said Rossok had provided the teenager with alcohol, and that the two had viewed pornographic movies together.

According to court documents, many people, including the alleged victim's parents, had questioned the girl's relationship with Rossok, but the girl always said she and Rossok were "just friends."

The victim had been allowed to stay overnight at Rossok's house, court records said, and it was not unusual for the girl's mother to ask Rossok to help her out by providing child care for the girl and the girl's younger siblings.

Rossok had also worked as a substitute teacher, court records said. She substituted in Putnam County schools six times last year.

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  • To much is being published about this story, how is she going to get a fair trial in this closed minded city?

    -- Posted by 1stamendrights on Fri, Nov 12, 2010, at 6:33 PM
  • She is not. She is pleading guilty and if Bookwalter's comment is correct, straight up to the charges.

    -- Posted by reckman on Fri, Nov 12, 2010, at 6:55 PM
  • Yeah, this town is way too close-minded for this to be a fair trial in any way.

    -- Posted by Apollo13 on Fri, Nov 12, 2010, at 9:15 PM
  • Whiteboy...Sick pics? It's pretty obvious from your post that you have no idea who the people in the pictures are. Nothing "pretty sick" about any of them.

    I'm sure Facebook, and Myspace owe you a big thanks for all the traffic they have gotten since you posted that, since probably 90% of Putnam County has likely logged in to see these alleged "sick pics".

    -- Posted by seriously_? on Fri, Nov 12, 2010, at 9:43 PM
  • Why isn't the roomate that bought the alcohol in jail as well......

    You KNOW the roommate KNEW what was going on........

    -- Posted by cominatcha on Fri, Nov 12, 2010, at 11:45 PM
  • yea this is a sick pedafile, she was only 14, still a child.

    -- Posted by tru story on Mon, Nov 15, 2010, at 8:54 AM
  • Now, I have read both articles. I still stand by my convictions that innocent or guilty, Beth was in a position of guidance and leadership, but I have some serious misgivings as to what was printed in the BG. The BG does need to proof-read.

    In one paragraph it stated, "According to court documents, many people, including the alleged victim's parents, had questioned the girl's relationship with Rossok." and in the next paragraph it stated, "Court records said the alleged victim had been allowed to stay overnight with Rossok, and that the alleged victim's mother often asked Rossok to help with child care." Now, call me an ignorant reader, but do these two statements contradict one another? If the parents had questions regarding the alleged victim's relationship with Rossok, then why would they often ask Rossok to help with child care? POINT TO PONDER, that is ponder the parents decision-making abilities versus Beth's decision-making abilities.

    -- Posted by GoSoftball on Tue, Nov 16, 2010, at 4:06 PM
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