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Last updated on Tuesday, December 9, 2014
(BEDFORD) - Oolitic Deputy Marshall Bill Allen appeared in Lawrence County Superior Court II this afternoon to face three felony charges of child molesting.
Judge William Sleva asked Allen if he understood the counts and then entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Allen, who says he is innocent, plans to hire his own attorney.
His next court appearance will be Feb. 2 at 2 p.m. for a pre-trial conference.
If found guilty of the two Class A felonies, Allen could face up to a minimum of 20 years in prison and a maximum of 50 years on each count. On the Class C felony, he could face a minimum of 10 years and a maximum of 20 years in prison.
Judge Sleva continued Allen's release on bond, but did order him to have no contact with the alleged victim and to follow all the terms of his bond.
Allen did question the judge about being able to continue to own and possess firearms.
"If need be I can get them out of my house," Allen told the judge. "I do not want to violate the bond issue."
After reviewing the law, Judge Sleva said having the weapons would not be a violation, because the alleged crime was not committed against a spouse or ex-spouse. Special Prosecutor Stan Levco did not object to the ruling.
Bill Allen was turned himself in on Nov. 24. He was booked into the Lawrence County jail and then released after posting 10 percent ($10,000) of a $100,000 bond.
Allen has been suspended from duty with pay pending the results of the criminal investigation.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Allen is accused of having sexual intercourse with a child under the age of 14, did perform or submit to sexual deviate conduct and did arouse or satisfy his sexual desires with the child.
Levoc, acting for the Lawrence County Prosecutor's Office, received the following report from Indiana State Police Detective Brad Stille.
According to Detective Stille on or about October 17, he was contacted by the Greene County Department of Child Services regarding a complaint against Allen.
The allegation was that Allen had been involved in an inappropriate sexual relationship with the then 11-year-old.
The girl, now 16, in an interview at the Comfort House Child Advocacy Center in Corydon, told investigators that when she was around 10-years-old, Bill Allen began sexually abusing her. The girl reported that the acts took place in a home in Lawrence County.
The girl says the abuse started with Allen allegedly touching her breast and later having her perform oral sex and manual stimulation on Allen. The girl told police that this took place more than once between the ages of 10 and 14.
The girl claims that when she turned 13, Allen had sexual intercourse with her. She told police the last time that happened was when she was 14 when she learned in health class about "sex" and then told Allen she did not want to '"do this" anymore.
The girl's brother told police that the girl was Allen's "favorite" and that he was suspicious of the amount of time Allen was spending with his sister.
He told police that Allen would take the girl into his room and spend time alone with her.
The mother of the girl confronted Allen about the allegations one day after church when the girl told her mother about the alleged abuse.
Allen denied the allegation.
The mother also told investigators that about four or five years ago, Allen had purchased a personal massage device and began talking to the girl about her sexuality. The mother allegedly told Allen she didn't feel that was appropriate.
A friend of the teen also was interviewed by police and stated her friend had told her about the sexual abuse.
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