Man sentenced for sexual misconduct

Tuesday, February 27, 2007

A man who pleaded guilty to sexual misconduct with a 15-year-old girl he met on the Internet was sentenced last week to serve four years in prison.

Putnam Circuit Court Judge Matthew Headley sentenced 47-year-old Billy Blixt, Carmel, to serve four years with the Indiana Department of Correction, to be followed by two years on probation.

He will also have to register as a sex offender for 10 years after he completes his sentence, Putnam County Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said.

According to a police report, the acts occurred between Sept. 5 and Sept. 9, 2005 at a home belonging to Blixt's sister in Van Bibber Lake Estates.

Both the victim, who was 15 years old at the time, and Blixt lived in Johnson County at the time of the incident.

According to a police report, Blixt presented himself as a 26-year-old male when he met the girl in an Internet chat room.

In late August or early September of '05, the girl's parents reported her as a runaway. Ten days later Blixt and the girl were located at the home in Van Bibber Lake Estates.

According to a police report, Blixt and the alleged victim offered different accounts of what happened inside the trailer. Blixt suggested that he engaged in inappropriate touching of the girl, while the girl said they went further.

After police located Blixt and the girl, they searched the trailer and recovered the girl's pants, covered with stains that DNA tests would later show belonged to Blixt.

During a search of Blixt's car and home, police seized several unnamed items along with computer disks and other pieces of equipment. They also found letters and copies of e-mails that according to the police report, "talked about love, needing each other, running away together and holding each other."

At last week's sentencing, the victim's mother testified that her daughter had to be treated for psychological problems relating to the incident. The girl is now a junior in high school.

Bookwalter had asked for a six-year prison sentence, to be followed by two years on probation.

The attorney for Blixt asked that he be allowed only to serve probation.

The judge also ordered Blixt to pay $5,300 in restitution upon his release.

Upon filing the charges in 2005, the prosecutor urged parents to be aware of what their children are doing on the Internet.

"All parents should try to be aware of who their children are talking to on the Internet," Bookwalter said. "Predators are out there, and it can happen to anyone, including Putnam County."

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