A North Webster man will be in his 80s by the time he’s released from prison after being sentenced Thursday morning on three counts of sexual misconduct with a minor.
The 70-year-old man did indicate he would appeal.
David Killian Sr. was convicted by a jury on Sept. 25 on one level 4 felony and two level 5 felonies of sexual misconduct with a minor. Killian had sex with and impregnated a 14-year-old relative between March and August 2017. He had pleaded not guilty to the charges.
In Superior Court I Thursday, Judge David Cates sentenced Killian to 12 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections on the level 4 felony, saying the aggravating factors far outweighed the mitigating factors. On the two level 5 felonies, he sentenced Killian to five years each, to be served concurrently but consecutively to the level 4 felony.
The maximum sentence Killian could have received on all three felonies was up to 24 years.
He was given 463 days credit for time already served, along with good time credit “as calculated,” Cates said.
Cates found him to be a sexual predator, and Killian is to have no contact with the female relative or their child. He also has to pay court costs of $500 and $300 for the pauper counsel.
When Cates told Killian he had a right to appeal, Killian asked for an attorney to represent him for the appellate stage. His attorney, Adam Turner, agreed to continue to represent him in the appeal process.
While handing down Killian’s sentence, Cates said it appeared Killian had a criminal history, though that was a long time ago. He was concerned about Killian’s health, but Killian violated the victim’s trust. Cates agreed with all the aggravating factors in the pre-sentence report and told Killian that what he did will have long-term effects on the victim and her child.
For the state, Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz said the state agreed with all the aggravating factors in the pre-sentence report, but added another one: that a child was produced from the crime. And while the creation of a life might be foreseeable, Voelz said what was not foreseeable was that Killian would deny it was his child and not support it at all.
Voelz reminded the court that during the trial, he told the jury that Killian’s behavior went from bad to worse to even worse. Killian slapped the victim, demanded sex from her and gave or withheld money from her for sex. Making it worse was that he did all of that to one of his own relatives, and now she has to raise their child on her own as a 16-year-old girl.
The child was born in June 2018, which means Killian was violating the victim when she was pregnant with their child, Voelz said.
Voelz then read the victim’s impact statement, which talked about how people look down on her as a teenage mom, but she can’t help that she was molested. She wrote that she never wanted that for herself, and that she had hoped to wait until marriage to have sex. She loves her daughter, but her daughter also reminds her every day of Killian, but that’s not her daughter’s fault.
The victim, in her letter, asked Cates to give Killian the maximum sentence, just like he gave her and her daughter.
On Killian’s behalf, Turner said the case has been a long one and throughout the entire procedure, Killian has held he was innocent. However, Turner acknowledged a 12-member jury convicted him.
Turner said Killian’s health was not good and that should be considered in the sentencing. He also said Killian has not had any prior convictions like the ones he’s been convicted of in this matter. Turner said as his counsel, Killian has been easy to work with and compliant.
Killian did not offer a comment on his own behalf.
