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Hendricks County case dismissed against convicted child molester
DANVILLE -- A Heritage Lake man already serving a 99-year sentence for child molesting will not face trial for the same charges in Hendricks County. However, it has nothing to do with his presumed innocence.
David L. Williams, 39, is currently incarcerated in Pendleton Correctional Facility for 12 felony convictions in Putnam County relating to the molestation of a young female relative when the girl was between six and eight years old.
He was awaiting a May trial for three more felonies in Hendricks County: Class A felony child molesting, Class B felony incest and Class C felony child molesting.
With Williams' earliest possible release date scheduled for 2056, Hendricks County Deputy Prosecutor Georgeanna Teipen said there was little reason to put the victim through another trial.
"I consulted with the family," Teipen said. "I didn't want to put her through another trial. It was just the right thing to do."
The Hendricks County case was filed in January 2013, after Williams' Putnam County conviction but before his sentencing. The proceedings continued until the state filed a motion to dismiss without prejudice on Tuesday, which Judicial Officer David Coleman issued on Wednesday.
Teipen said the decision and the timing also had to do with Williams' refusal to enter a guilty plea and the Indiana Court of Appeals upholding the Putnam County conviction and sentence.
"I would have loved to put him away for another 150 years," Teipen said, adding that after the Court of Appeals decision, Williams won't be going anywhere from quite some time.
He will be a few days short of his 82nd birthday at his earliest possible release date.
Williams' crimes in Putnam County include eight Class A felony counts of child molesting, one Class B felony count of incest and three Class C felony counts of child molesting.