The Press-Dispatch
Issue link: https://www.ifoldsflip.com/i/340091
A-2 Wednesday, July 2, 2014 The Press-Dispatch By Andy Heuring A Pike County grand jury indicted a Santa Claus man on a charges of incest and child molesting. Brandon K. Lester, 32, of 253 E. Inauguration Day, Santa Claus, was taken in- to custody on the three in- dictments Monday morning. The grand jury returned the indictments Friday af- ternoon. A grand jury found evi- dence existed to find prob- able cause that in late 2008 Lester performed sex acts on a Pike County child, who was five at the time. Accord- ing to an Indiana State Po- lice news release, State Po- lice Detective Tobias Odom's investigation found evidence Lester molested the child on several occasions from 2009 to 2014. Lester has been charged with count I child molest- ing-deviate sexual conduct, a class A felony and count II incest-deviate sexual con- duct, a class C felony. A class A felony is punish- able by a sentence of 20 to 50 years, a class C felony is punishable by two to eight years. A grand jury indictment is the equivalent of a prob- able cause and is not a con- viction. It has a much lower standard of proof than a con- viction. It meets in secret to review evidence and deter- mine if there is enough ev- idence to bring a criminal charge. Lester is being held in the Pike County Jail on a $ 350,000 bond. Santa Claus man indicted for incest, molestation Locally Owned & Operated | Dr. Clint Shoultz 715 S. 9th Street, Petersburg | 354-9400 Mon. 8-7 | Tues. 8-noon | Wed. 10-7 | Thurs. 8-5 | Fri. 8-5 SAVE 25% on all non-prescription designer sunglasses SunglASSES SAlE Harley Davidson Nine West Carrera Vera Bradley Coach Izod Calvin Klein True Religion Need prescription sunglasses? These frames take prescrip- tion lenses, too! Buy 1 pair prescription sunglasses, get the second at HAlF PRICE! * *Insurance accepted. 2nd pair doesn't have to be prescription. 2nd pair can be for anyone. There's never a good time for an accident to happen. But when it does, you can count on me to be there quickly so you can get your life back to normal. GET TO A BETTER STATE ™ . CALL ME TODAY. When "That will never happen to me" happens. I'm ready to help. 1101204.1 State Farm, Home Office, Bloomington, IL Pell Insurance Agcy Inc Jim Pell, Agent 612 East Main Street Petersburg, IN 47567 Bus: 812-354-6038 When "That will never happen to me" happens. I'm ready to help. There's never a good time for an accident to happen. But when it does, you can count on me to be there quickly so you can get your life back to normal. GET TO A BETTER STATE ® . CALL ME TODAY Pell Insurance Agcy Inc 612 East Main Street Petersburg, IN 47567 Bus: 812-354-6038 www.JimPellAgency.com By Andy Heuring The Pike County 4-H Fair is set for July 20 -26 this year. It will feature many of the same events Miss Pike County, hog wrestling, car- nival rides and a new event, Swamp Fever Racing Mud Boggs on Saturday night. The fair will start with their traditional event, a parade beginning at 5 p.m. Sunday, July 20 on Main St., Petersburg, that will pro- ceed to Hornady Park. Opening ceremonies be- gin at 6:30 p.m. with con- certs by Fighting for a Chance and Payton Lynn. A horse show is set for 7 p.m. on Sunday. Monday, July 21 Monday night features the Little Miss and Mr. Pageant at 7 p.m. followed by the Ju- nior Miss Pageant at 8:30 p.m. Other activities set for Monday include the goat show at 9 a.m. and a pleasure horse show at 7 p.m. Tuesday, July 22 The Teen Miss Pike Coun- ty pageant will be at 7 p.m., followed by the 8 p.m. Miss Pike County Queen Pag- eant. Carnival rides open for the first night at 5 p.m. on Tues- day and will run through 10 p.m. They will be open each night Tuesday through Sat- urday from 5 to 10 p.m. The poultry show is set for 9 a.m. and the swine show is set for 6:30 p.m. Wednesday, July 23 Wednesday night will feature the 4-H family Fun Night and Amazing Race to End Hunger. The day's activities start at 9 a.m. with the rabbit show The beef, dairy and sheep shows are set for 6 p.m. Thursday, July 24 Hog wrestling, preceded by Pike County native De- Wayne Spaw's concert start- ing at 6:15 p.m., will high- light Thursday's activities. Friday, July 25 The livestock auction an- nouncing the Top Herdsman and Supreme Showmen will begin at 5 p.m. At 9 a.m., the large and small animal Supreme Showmanship contests will be judged. Saturday, July 26 Swamp Fever Racing Mudd Boggs begins at 1 p.m., with registration at 10 a.m. It will feature vari- ous vehicles, ranging from your regular street pickups and Jeeps to souped up four- wheel drive vehicles made just for mud bogg racing, trying to negotiate a giant pit of mud. The day begins with a youth fishing tourney at Hornady Park's Ashley Lake from 8 a.m. to noon. There will be bingo in the 4-H Building from 6 to 10 p.m. It will be the last chance for the carnival rides from 5 to 10 p.m. Mudd Boggs new feature at Pike 4-H Fair By Andy Heuring A Washington man was arrested after police re- sponded to 911 calls of a woman screaming for help in Prides Creek Park. Johnathan E. Lamb, 23, of 302 N.W. Third St., Washington, was arrested at 12:08 a.m. Saturday. Pike County Deputy Chad Tharp said central dispatch got two calls from people at Prides Creek reporting a woman screaming "help me." Tharp said Petersburg Po- lice Cpl. Kyle Mills arrived and found a man pointing his finger in the face of a woman and he separated them. Tharp said he, Dep- uty Buck Seger and Prides Creek Security Officer Jim Capozella then arrived. According to Tharp's re- port, Julie Deem said she and Lamb were camping to- gether; however, Lamb was "highly intoxicated" and became angry with her. He then grabbed her and threw her onto the ground. Tharp said Deem had a scratch over her eyes, a red mark on her arm, and grass and dirt all over her back. He also said her three- year-old daughter said, "he pushed Mommy down." Lamb denied touching Deem and claimed she must have "fallen out of her chair." Deputy Tharp said while talking with Lamb, he could detect a strong odor of alco- hol and Lamb refused a por- table breath test. He then resisted officers when they tried to place handcuffs on him, and be- gan to yell and curse at of- ficers as they put handcuffs on them. When they tried to escort him to a police car, he pulled away and had to be taken to the ground, where he began kicking officers, grabbed Deputy Tharp's thumb and tried to twist it. A tazer was used on Lamb and he then complied. He was preliminarily charged with domestic bat- tery committed in the pres- ence of a child less than 16 years old, a class D felony; resisting law enforcement, disorderly conduct, public intoxication and battery, and bodily injury against law en- forcement, a class D felony. Lamb arrested after police respond to 911 call Sugar Ridge Fish and Wildlife Area Dan Eckstein, assistant property manager for Sugar Ridge Fish and Wildlife Area, disks a habitat plot on Sugar Ridge Area 3 in Winslow. The habitat plot will provide food and nourishment to deer, creating quality hunting opportunities on Sugar Ridge. Jill Sorg photo By Andy Heuring A Cannelburg man was ar- rested for drunken driving after police stopped him for not having a license plate light. Dennis Graber, 42, of 7574 S. 850 E., Cannelburg, was arrested by Pike County Deputy Buck Seger at about 12:35 a.m. Sunday, June 29 in Campbelltown. Deputy Seger said he was driving south on High- way 61 near Arnold Lane when he saw a Dodge Ram truck without an illuminat- ed license plate light. Seger said he stopped Graber and noticed the odor of alcohol while talking with him. Graber told Seger he had a few drinks at a friend's house, according to Seger's report. Graber failed field sobri- ety tests and was taken to the Pike County Jail, where he tested 0.97 percent for blood alcohol content. He was preliminarily charged with operating a vehicle while intoxicated. Highway 161 will be closed south of I-64. Crews will be replacing a drainage structure un- der the roadway, 0.04 miles north of S.R. 68. Work will begin on or af- ter Monday, July 7, at about 7 a.m. local time. It is ex- pected to re-open by 5 p.m. on Wednesday, August 6, weather permitting. Local residents will have access to the point of clo- sure. All lanes of traffic will be closed at the structure. Highway 161 south of I-64 closing Cannelburg man arrested for DUI Highway 61 at Monroe City will be closed begin- ning Monday, July 7. The Indiana Department of Transportation said on Monday morning contrac- tor's crews will be clos- ing State Road 61 from the junction of State Road 241 in Monroe City to the junc- tion of State Road 57 in Pe- tersburg. No through vehi- cle traffic will be allowed; however, local residents will have access to the point of closure. The official detour will follow S.R. 241, U.S. Route 50 and S.R. 57. Highway 61 will close for the installation of an exten- sion storm water drainage system through the town. The first area to be closed will be the "Five Points" in- tersection near the Blue Jean Center. It is anticipat- ed that this first phase of in- stallation will last through July 28. During this phase of the construction, there will be no shortcut on side streets to get around the construc- tion. When the first phase is completed, crews will move to the next phase of con- struction beginning imme- diately north of the Five Points intersection to 9th Street. The third phase will be from just north of 9th Street to 6th Street. The fi- nal phase of construction begins immediately north of 6th Street to the S.R. 241 intersection. There is a pos- sibility S.R. 61 could re-open to through traffic at the end of 2014. However, the road- way would then be re-closed in the spring of 2015 to com- plete storm drainage instal- lation. It is anticipated the pav- ing portion of the contract will not begin until Spring of 2015, with the overall proj- ect completion date of Octo- ber 2015 Highway 61 closing Monday for storm drain installation