The Press-Dispatch
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PRIMARY Continued from page 1 SENTENCE Continued from page 1 Respect for Human Dignity • Quality • Justice • Stewardship • Compassionate Caring Now Offering DOT Physical Exams! Ben Stillman, D.O. CHEESY CHICKEN BROCCOLI OR CHILI WED Boneless Pork Chop $ 8.99 Tender Pork Loin Baked with Special Spices and Parmesan Cheese served with Baked Potato, Green Beans or Buttered Peas and Carrots and a Drink * *Your Choice of Regular Coffee, Tea or Coke Product. Specials and menu items are subject to food availability from suppliers. /RandysAmericanaCafe Like us on Facebook! 7TH & MAIN STREETS • PETERSBURG JAN. 26 – FEB. 1 Served daily until 3pm l unch Dine-in & Carry-Out THURSDAY Ham Steak $ 8.99 Thick-Sliced Ham Served with Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Green Beans or Buttered Peas and Carrots, Roll and a Drink * Meatloaf $ 8.99 Green Beans or Buttered Peas and Carrots, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy, Roll and Drink * CHEESY POTATO OR CHILI FRIDAY CHILI Roast Beef Manhattan $ 8.99 Roast Beef Smothered in Gravy on Mashed Potatoes and Bread with Green Beans or Corn and Drink * Polish Sausage $ 8.99 with Sauerkraut, served with Cornbread, Mashed Potatoes and Gravy and a Drink * MON CHILI Spaghetti $ 7.99 Cheesy Mozzarella Toast, Side Salad and Drink * HAM & BEANS WITH CORNBREAD OR CHILI TUESDAY Turkey Manhattan $ 8.99 Turkey Breast Smothered in Gravy on Mashed Potatoes and Bread with Green Beans and Drink * Taco Salad $ 8.99 Served with Sour Cream, Salsa and a Drink * CHILI Biscuits and Gravy $ 8.99 Served With Your Choice of Two Sides and a Drink * SAT Monday–Saturday 7am-8pm 812-354-2004 Joe Mama's Pizza SE RV I N G A FTER 3 P M Hand-Tossed CHEESE PIZZA Try our Chareleen Cannavan Cannavan celebrates 90th birthday Chareleen Cannavan, for- merly of Petersburg, celebrat- ed her 90th birthday with a card shower. Due to COVID and the fact that she resides in an assisted living facility, the family had to postpone getting together for this spe- cial occasion. The family was hoping that she would receive 90 cards and she received 135. SUBSCRIBE TODAY! We're not afraid to shed some light on the truth. 812-354-8500 The Press-Dispatch Wednesday, Januar y 26, 2022 A-3 LOCAL Call: 812-354-8500 Email: news@pressdispatch.net or bring in a hard copy: 820 E. Poplar Street, Petersburg health concerns. Only one candidate has filed to run for Pike County Sheriff, which is Jason McKinney, who is running on the Republican ticket and currently serves as a School Resource Officer. The Pike County Democratic Precinct Committeeman seat has Matthew T. Fulk on the ballot, along with Carolyn Weit- kamp listed for the Pike County Monroe Democratic Precinct Committeeman. Others on the local level include Carol Sue Sutton, with the Republican party, for the Madison Township Trustee; Marie N. Boyd, with the Republican party, for the Washington Township Trustee; Danielle Houtsch, for the Republican party, for the Jefferson Township Trustee; Joe Melhis- er, with the Republican party, is listed on the ballot for the Patoka Township Trust- ee; and Shirley A. Shaffer, for the Repub- lican party, is listed for the Logan Town- ship Trustee. Friday, February 4, at noon is the offi- cial deadline in Indiana for a candidate to file in the Pike County Clerk's Office. The deadline in Indiana for a school board candidate to file is Friday, August 26 at noon. Voter registration deadline for the 2022 primary election is Monday, April 4. was the best thing that had happened to her since a grandparent had died. "He was always there for me." Also the interview, she said Gray had been taking baths and showers with her for about a year. She also said he had been showing herself and her 8 -year- old sister porn videos on his phone. She said on the night Gray was arrested, he had showed them the video Barely Legal Girls. She went onto describe a sex act. Kuykendall said the girls also de- scribed pole dancing they did for Gray. Also testifying was a 20 -year-old fe- male victim from a case against Gray in 2014. Gray was convicted of neglect of a dependent and distributing material harmful to a minor. The girl said Gray was shaving her legs and giving her baths. She said he nev- er sexually assaulted her, but did many things that made her "really uncomfort- able." "I remember taking baths together and he would do stuff in the bath," the 20 -year-old told the court. Gray was given the opportunity to speak to the court. "I don't know what to say. I know what I did. I don't understand the cause. I can't take it back. I wish I could." "I don't know what else to say about it. I don't intend to live around here any- more. I didn't intend to do harm to her," said Gray. He added, "I have a right to a trial, but I don't want to put the kids through that. Nothing I can say, but I'm sorry." Gray's attorney, Faye Hedinger, said Gray is 55 years old and supports his wife. She said he had done a lot of things in the community, and had been a hard worker and a benefit to the community. "I'm not going to minimize his actions. He is sitting here knowing that he is fac- ing a life sentence. . . He chose not to go to trial and not put the girls through the interview process. He made that choice knowing the minimum(sentence) is close to a life sentence. We are asking for some possibility of relief in his life- time," said Hedinger. "Tim's remorse is genuine." She said additional mitigating factors are that he admitted to the crime and cooperated with investigators. "I know it wasn't a full confession, but with in half an hour of the first conversation with po- lice, he was making statements of admis- sion." She said a 20 -year sentence for a 55 -year-old was a hardship. She added he will be on the sex offend- er list the rest of his life. "A 20 -year sentence serves all the pu- nitive purposes," said Hedinger. McDonald disagreed. "What should we say about Mr. Gray. Ms. Hedinger says he is remorseful. It is her job to say that." He then asked when Gray's remorse started. "Mr. Gray said it was an 11-year-old's idea. She put him in that spot because she wanted to know how it felt." "Everyone knows an 11-year-old isn't curious" about that. "Only time that hap- pens is when Mr. Gray put that into her mind. . . It only happens when a predator shows them porn and says 'you ought to try it,'" said McDonald. He added, "Gray is the only person who thinks it is a good idea to give a female child a bath. He had them pole dance for him. They are 11 and 8 years old. I have never heard of a man having an 11- and 8 -year-old pole dance for him." "If he had remorse, then in 2014, a light ought to have gone off," said McDonald. "He was remorseful when he got caught by a neighbor who walked up to the door." McDonald added sexual abusers are known to have a high incidence of repeat offenses. He said the girl is 11 and a child, but she didn't talk like a child. "No she talks about Barely Legal Girls. Did she come up with that? " "I have never had a case where the ag- gravator is so profoundly obvious," said McDonald. He added, "The greatest reason to send him to jail for 50 years, because the aggravator calls for it. Everyday he is in DOC (Dept. of Corrections), he can't get his hands on another child. That is more than enough of a reason to send him to DOC, so he can never do this again." Hedinger argued, "There are many reasons for incarceration in our state, but just getting someone out of circula- tion forever is not a reason for a long sen- tence." A fter the arguments for both sides, Pike Circuit Court Judge Jeff Biesterveld left the courtroom for a short recess, then returned to pronounce the sentence. Biesterveld said he took into consider- ation Gray's previous record, and that he was in a position of trust and in a position of control over the victim. "The harm to the victim is significant." He also said Gray posed a risk to the community and had committed the of- fense on a victim of less than 18 years old. Biesterveld then pronounced the maxi- mum sentence of 50 years and gave Gray good time credit for 240 days. Gray was also ordered to have no con- tact with the victim or her family. By Andy Heuring Pike County set a record number of new COVID cases last Wednesday when 72 new cases were reported. It the most in a day so far for the county. On Thurs- day, Indiana had a record with 17,518 new cases. It was the first time that number had topped 17,000. It did again on Friday with a total of 17,302. It fell to 12,599 on Saturday, and then 5,784 on Sunday, be- fore jumping back up to 9,940 on Monday. It is typical for the numbers to drop on the weekends. On January 18, Pike County recorded its first new COVID death since Novem- ber 27, 2020. Locally, Pike County also had its most cases in a seven-day period with 276 cas- es. The previous seven days had 209 new cases, that number had doubled each of the two previous seven days. Deaths statewide have seen a slight downward trend. From January 7 to 13, deaths ranged from 61 to 75, but after the 13th, they have gone down. In the last seven days, they have ranged between 47 and 29, despite the high numbers of new cases. Hospitalizations have also decreased. A fter hitting an all-time high of 3,519 on January 13, they fell off to 3,363 on Janu- ary 16 and then jumped back to 3,506 on January 19. Since that time, they fell to 3,137 on January 23, before going up to 3,204 on January 24. Hospital ICU beds across the state were down to only 9.6 percent available last week, but that has improved slightly to 13.2 percent this week. Pike County's seven-day, all-test posi- tivity rate was at 32 percent on Tuesday. Statewide, the rate is 30.4 percent. New COVID case record set in county