80-Year-Old Man Sentenced To Two Years In Prison For Sexual Misconduct With Minor
By Liz Adkins
InkFreeNews
Jack Easterday
WARSAW — A Fort Wayne man will serve two years in prison for engaging in sexual activity with a child.
Jack Easterday, 80, Fort Wayne, was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, a level 5 felony. A rape charge was dismissed as part of a plea agreement.
Easterday was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court One on Thursday, Aug. 15.
For sexual misconduct with a minor, Kosciusko Superior Court One Judge Karin McGrath sentenced Easterday to three years in the Indiana Department of Correction. Two years will be executed and one year was suspended on probation.
While serving his sentence, Easterday cannot be around anyone under the age of 18. He must also register as a sex offender.
A no-contact order between Easterday and the victim remains in effect.
At sentencing, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Sobek said to give minimal weight to Easterday having no prior criminal history. He said his issue with the Kosciusko County Probation Department’s recommendation was the message it would send to the community about victims and how “these types of cases are treated.”
Defense Attorney Douglas Ulmer said there was no excuse or adequate explanation for what Easterday did. He noted Easterday’s cooperation with law enforcement and said he was “very remorseful and feels terrible about the harm he caused.”
Ulmer asked the court to consider Easterday’s age and poor health as factors in the case and requested the court accept the probation department’s recommendation of a four-year suspended sentence.
“I’m very, very sorry for what I did and what I put my family and (the victim’s) family through,” said Easterday. “I regret doing what I did.”
“I hear all the time that people are sorry and I believe you are sorry today,” said McGrath. “But there’s also always the question if someone is sorry for what they did or sorry they got caught.”
On Aug. 10, 2023, a child reported being inappropriately touched by Easterday to the Ohio Department of Job and Family Services. The child said the incident occurred in Pierceton about a year prior to their report.
During a forensic interview, the child described being inappropriately touched by Easterday and said they told him to stop, but that he did not.
According to court documents, on Jan. 2, Easterday confessed to inappropriately touching the child in September 2022.
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