GREENE AND LAWRENCE COUNTIES– Troopers from the Indiana State Police Bloomington and Bremen Districts, as well as a Detective from the Greene County Sheriff’s Department, located and arrested a California man in Elkhart, Indiana, for the molestation of a female child in Lawrence County.
Senior Trooper Richard Klun of the Bloomington District was contacted by Greene County Sheriff’s Detective Sergeant Shawn Cullison on Monday, September 23rd, requesting assistance with locating a California man, later identified as Bernardo Revelez Tapia, Age 43, who was a suspect in the child molestation of a 12-year-old female child. According to initial reports, Tapia had met the child victim through the social media platform Snapchat. He allegedly traveled to the child’s residence in Greene County, picked her up, and traveled to Bedford, where the molestation happened. He drove the child victim back to her residence and then traveled to northern Indiana.
Utilizing several investigative techniques, Detective Sergeant Cullison and Senior Trooper Klun identified the suspect and located him in Elkhart, Indiana. An arrest warrant was requested and Troopers from the Indiana State Police Bremen District found Tapia. He was arrested without incident, and Tapia’s custody was transferred to the Elkhart County Jail before he was transferred to the Lawrence County Jail.
Tapia was arrested on the following charges:
Charge I: Child Molesting, a Level 1 Felony
Charge II: Child Molesting, a Level 1 Felony
Charge III: Rape Committed by Using or Threatening Deadly Force, a Level 1 Felony
Charge IV: Rape Committed by Using or Threatening Deadly Force, a Level 1 Felony
Charge V: Strangulation, a Level 6 Felony
Charge VI: Strangulation, a Level 6 Felony
Bremen Troopers who were instrumental in the apprehension of Tapia included the following: Master Trooper Kyle Hudson, Senior Trooper Jon Price, Trooper Nikolos Anderson, Trooper Matt Drudge, and Sergeant Brandon McBrier.
The Indiana State Police requests that any citizen with additional information regarding this matter please contact the Bloomington District at 812-332-4411.
All criminal defendants are to be presumed innocent until and unless proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
