A jury convicted Jonathen Lovelace, 23, of molesting a 5-year-old girl Wednesday in Kosciusko County Superior Court I.
The jury returned with the verdict after 6-1/2 hours of deliberations. Lovelace, who has two prior unrelated felony convictions, also was convicted as a habitual offender.
“It’s finally a good night,” the girl’s mother said after the verdict.
After four hours of deliberations, the jury returned to court to review the video of the girl’s interview with Child Protective Services and Lovelace’s testimony. The jury returned about two hours later with its verdict.
During her closing statements, Katy Hampton, chief deputy prosecuting attorney, said
Lovelace violated the trust he had built up with the 5–year-old, who had spent a lot of time with him. “He was her best friend,” Hampton said.
Lovelace met the girl when he moved to the area at the age of 20 to track down his biological father. After tracking him down, Lovelace moved into his father’s house and became a playmate and friend of the girl. After Lovelace moved out, he still frequented the home to visit his family.
According to court records, Lovelace was playing games with the girl under her bed. He played a game with her he called “beautiful girls and handsome boys” where he had the girl touch his privates.
“Lovelace made a decision that would tear a family apart,” Hampton told the jury.
Lovelace’s attorney, Matthew Buehler, argued the case was about misunderstanding and misinterpretation. He said there was no physical evidence, and the whole case hinged on the memory of 5-year-old. “We all know 5–year-olds can misremember things,” he said.
Hampton argued that when the girl told her mom, when she talked to a CPS representative and while talking to the judge in a previous hearing, the girl’s story remained consistent.
During the trial, Hampton showed a video of the girl with CPS worker Kelly Bugg. Hampton argued the girl was embarrassed and told Bugg not to say the word privates, which proved the girl was not making up a story.
Lovelace took the stand and denied the allegations. He said he was just playing games with the girl.
Lovelace testified the girl and him would play games together, and that the girl loved to play under her bed. The girl’s mother had recently banned the girl from playing under the bed, due to bumping her head and getting hurt one night.
When the mother saw them under the bed, she asked them to get out and explained to Lovelace her reasoning, she testified earlier.
Hampton challenged Lovelace, asking why when the girl’s mother asked them to get out from the under the bed, he didn’t’. Lovelace testified he waited about 15 minutes to get out from the under the bed, when his father entered the room and told them to get out.
“Why didn’t you get out from the under bed, when she asked you to?” Hampton asked. Lovelace responded he didn’t know.
Buehler asked Lovelace about his prior robbery conviction in Kosciusko County and pointed out that he pleaded guilty to that crime.
“I did it (the robbery), I didn’t do this,” Lovelace said.
Hampton declined to comment on the case after the verdict. Judge David Cates set sentencing for 9:30 a.m. Feb. 16. Lovelace faces eight to 32 years in prison.
