Brought to you by WBIW News and Network Indiana
Last updated on Wednesday, November 30, 2011
(BEDFORD) - A Bedford man was sentenced to 270 days on house arrest for criminal confinement by Lawrence Superior Court II Judge William Sleva Monday afternoon.
Logan Melvin entered a guilty plea to the criminal confinement charge, a Class D felony, which had been reduced from the initial charge of rape, a Class B felony. The charge stemmed from an incident that happened in January of 2009. According to court documents, Melvin forced the girl to have sex with him in the back seat of her car at Shawswick School.
Lawrence County Deputy Prosecutor Timothy Sledd wanted Judge Sleva to sentence Melvin to the probation department's recommendation of two years, with one year suspended and one year served on house arrest.
Defense Attorney Sam Shapiro argued the age difference wasn't much, his client hasn't committed a crime for the two years he's been released on bond, he has no prior criminal record and entered into the plea agreement, which all should be viewed as mitigating circumstances. Shapiro wanted his client sentenced to four months.
In his ruling, Sleva found Melvin's lack of a criminal history as a mitigating circumstance and the nature of the offense as an aggravating circumstance.
He sentenced Melvin to 637 days, with 367 days suspended, leaving the 270 days on house arrest. Under the current law, if Melvin follows the house arrest rules, he could be done in 135 days.
Melvin will also be on supervised probation for a year and agreed to pay the victim restitution of $702.
1340 AM WBIW welcomes comments and suggestions by calling 812.277.1340 during normal business hours or by email at comments@wbiw.com
© Ad-Venture Media, Inc. All Rights Reserved.