GREENFIELD — Before Johnathan Hansen left for a camping trip with a teenage friend, he promised the girl’s father he wouldn’t take advantage of her crush on him, knowing she had mental health issues.
But then he did.
Hansen, 20, of Indianapolis, was sentenced to two years’ probation Tuesday after he admitted he was guilty of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Class D felony.
Jurors were summoned to Hancock Circuit Court Tuesday morning, but a trial was called off after Hansen’s last-minute guilty plea. Two other sexual assault charges against him were dismissed.
Hansen betrayed the family’s trust when he engaged in sex acts with the victim, the girl’s father said during a sentencing hearing Tuesday.
“I said, ‘It’s clear she likes you; you can’t act on that,’” he said. “‘She’s got issues she’s working through.’ And he said, ‘I wouldn’t do that to you, sir.’”
The man said he and his daughter’s mother never want the same thing to happen to another young woman.
Hansen was arrested in March after police said he had a sexual relationship with the underage girl.
Hansen and the girl reportedly were visiting the S&H Campground in Hancock County with friends and family in June 2014 when the incident occurred. The girl later told her parents that she had engaged in sexual acts with Hansen while the two were alone together in a wooded area.
Hansen was 18 at the time.
Hansen reportedly had been spending a lot of time alone with the victim while at the campground, prompting the girl’s father to talk with him about maintaining an appropriate relationship with the girl.
The Indianapolis man will not begin his probation immediately. After the sentencing, Hansen was placed back in custody; he will be turned over to Marion County officials to face charges in an unrelated burglary case.
Culver required Hansen to contact his high school and get re-enrolled in courses as a condition of his probation. Hansen said during the sentencing he is only a couple credits away from graduating, and the judge urged him to finish his education in a timely manner.
Hansen is prohibited from unsupervised contact with anyone younger than 18, and he is subject to drug and alcohol testing as part of his probation.
