90-year child-molesting sentence for Nussbaum

Calling the actions of a 65-year-old child-molesting defendant "nothing short of reprehensible," Putnam Circuit Court Judge Matt Headley Thursday sentenced the Greencastle man to 90 years in prison for acts committed on three young girls.

Michael M. Nussbaum, who last month was convicted on all eight counts of Class A felony child molestation by a jury of eight men and four women, was sentenced to 30 years in prison for each of the three victims in the case, Judge Headley said. He ordered that the sentences be served consecutively since each could have been tried as a separate case.

"You have forever changed the lives of three young girls," Headley said of the trio of victims, none of whom was older than eight when the incidents took place between Jan. 1, 2006 and Aug. 3, 2012 while they were in the care of his wife's non-licensed in-home daycare operation near Brick Chapel.

"Quite frankly," Judge Headley added, "you deserve eight times (the number of charges) 30 years. Two-hundred and 40 years is what you deserve."

Thirty years in prison is the advisory sentence for a Class A felony, which is punishable by a sentencing range of 20-50 years of incarceration.

A Putnam Circuit Court jury took a little more than an hour on Feb. 22 to convict Nussbaum on all eight counts.

And in less than 30 minutes Thursday, Nussbaum learned his fate, being sentenced to more time in prison than if he killed someone, as defense counsel Joel Wieneke pointed out. Through it all, Nussbaum maintained his innocence and announced his intention to appeal.

"There never has been any evidence of anything ... nothing but hearsay," Nussbaum said during his statement of elocution. "And hearsay is just gossip and rumors."

Nussbaum went silent after that brief statement, prompting Judge Headley to ask, "Is there anything else you'd like to say?"

"Yes," he responded, "I'm innocent."

Neither side called any witnesses at the sentencing hearing.

"Your honor, this was a jury trial for three days," Prosecutor Tim Bookwalter said after Headley asked if there would be any prosecution witnesses. "The jury heard the evidence."

In asking for the 90-year sentence, Bookwalter noted that Nussbaum was only charged with one count of each of the various forms of molestation for which he was charged per victim.

"We know it happened more than once," the prosecutor said. "The victims testified to the various times it occurred around the property."

Bookwalter also asked that Nussbaum be considered a violent predator and a credit-restricted felon, which means he must serve at least 85 percent of his sentence.

Prior to sentencing, Wieneke stressed that Nussbaum had no previous criminal history.

"Mr. Nussbaum maintains all these events did not occur and wants the world to know that he did not do any of them."

Judge Headley took the lack of criminal record as a mitigating factor in Nussbaum's favor.

However, he said the aggravating factors far outweighed that, listing Nussbaum being in a position of trust, the multiple times the incidents occurred, the impact the acts would have on the victims' lives and the fact Nussbaum threatened not only the victims but their loved ones and even their dog in at least one case.

"Those girls are courageous young ladies," Bookwalter has praised. "Hopefully this all will heal and they can have a normal life."

Wieneke was appointed to continue as Nussbaum''s legal counsel throughout the appeal process.

A written notice of appeal must be filed within 90 days for the process to move forward, Headley said.

The Nussbaum case is one of the inquiries for which a grand jury was called in January 2015.

The case began to unfold when Indiana State Police Trooper Michael Taylor, who was present at Thursday's sentencing, initiated an investigation of one girl's allegations after a call from Putnam County Child Services on May 19, 2014.

On July 18, 2014, a team of ISP troopers served a search warrant on the Nussbaum home. Charges were filed in Circuit Court on June 2, 2015.