Jury trial set for accused molester

Wednesday, March 4, 2009

A Coatesville man accused of child molestation is set to go before a jury in Putnam County Circuit Court on June 10.

Vernon Fredrickson, 51, is facing two Class C felony charges of child molesting and one count of Class D felony sexual battery. If convicted on all charges, he could be sentenced to up to 19 years in prison.

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 charges against him were filed April 7 following a two-month investigation conducted by the Indiana State Police.

A probable cause affidavit said all but one of the alleged incidents occurred in Bainbridge. Court documents said the alleged victim's mother suspected her child might have been molested when the child was 7. The mother confronted Fredrickson, who apologized and said it only happened once.

In February 2008, an Indiana State Police detective contacted Fredrickson and requested an interview. Fredrickson retained an attorney right after he was contacted by the ISP.

A warrant for Fredrickson's arrest was issued on April 9, and he was arraigned the next day. He was released from jail after posting 10 percent of a $20,000 bond. He was originally set to go to trial on Sept. 24, but trial was continued to March 11 on Sept. 4. The date was then continued to June 10.

Fredrickson's final pretrial conference is set for May 14.

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  • Thank you for giving the news without going into detail. I was critical of you on the last situation in the paper and it is only proper to offer praise when you have handled things with dignity yet gave the information needed by the community. Nice job.

    -- Posted by vivera on Wed, Mar 4, 2009, at 12:27 PM
  • Thanks for being a little more tactful than the original story. Too bad the last story helped drive the victim out of town.

    -- Posted by testmet on Wed, Mar 4, 2009, at 7:18 PM
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