Warsaw Man Accused Of Molesting Two Youths
Staff Report
WARSAW — A Warsaw man was recently arrested after allegedly molesting two children.
John Jeremy Sutherlin, 31, 1570 Loher Lane, Warsaw, is charged with two counts of child molesting, both level 1 felonies; and two counts of child molesting, both level 4 felonies.
On July 9, 2021, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of two children being molested by Sutherlin.
On July 13, 2021, the first child was interviewed at the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. In the interview, the child described being inappropriately touched by Sutherlin. According to court documents, the child said Sutherlin called the inappropriate touching “touching games,” and that it occurred more than 10 times.
The child further elaborated on a specific incident that occurred in the summer of 2020, during which Sutherlin engaged in inappropriate activity with the child. Sutherlin told the child not to tell anyone what happened. The child said they were scared of Sutherlin.
On July 13, 2021, the second child was also interviewed at the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. The child described being inappropriately touched by Sutherlin.
Investigators determined that the first child was molested by Sutherlin between 2015 and 2021. The second child was molested by Sutherlin between 2020 and 2021.
On Aug. 18, 2021, Sutherlin was interviewed by officers. In the interview, Sutherlin denied touching either of the children inappropriately and agreed to participate in a polygraph examination.
The polygraph examination took place on Oct. 15, 2021, with Indiana State Police. At the end of the examination, it was determined that Sutherlin was deceptive while answering questions about inappropriately touching the children. After learning the exam’s results, Sutherlin continued to deny inappropriately touching the children. However, in a post-exam interview, Sutherlin provided an account of an event that occurred about six years ago.
Sutherlin said he was in bed and naked with an erection when one of the children jumped into the bed and got under the covers. He told officers his genitals could have touched the child’s genitals during that event.
At the time of this case, Sutherlin was on pretrial release under Kosciusko Superior Court 3 for theft of a vehicle. He also has prior misdemeanor convictions for resisting law enforcement, theft, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and reckless driving.
Sutherlin was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on May 11, with a $150,250 surety and cash bond. As part of his bond conditions, Sutherlin must surrender any passport he possesses and cannot leave the state without prior court approval.