GREENFIELD — A Greenfield man told a judge he was in a drug-induced haze when he repeatedly sexually assaulted a young girl.
Josh Loyd, 45, will serve eight years in an Indiana Department of Correction facility — the maximum sentence — after pleading guilty to a child molest charge amid allegations dating back to 2006. He admitted to harming a young girl he met through a friend; but he told a judge many of his memories from those years are blurred because he was severely addicted to drugs at the time.
A girl told police Loyd repeatedly forced her to have sex with him and made her touch him inappropriately, according to court documents.
Loyd is the second man charged with the girl’s assault. Robert Celio, 34, of Greenfield, was sentenced last week to spend 50 years in a state prison after being found guilty of five felony sexual assault charges at the conclusion of a two-day trial.
Loyd is an acquaintance of Celio’s, the girl told police. She told investigators the two men repeatedly assaulted her on separate occasions, each threatening to harm her if she ever reported the crime.
Loyd was arrested in January and charged with three felony counts: child molesting as a Class A felony; criminal deviate conduct as a Class A felony; and intimidation as a Class C felony.
Each of those charges was dismissed in a plea agreement with prosecutors in exchange for Loyd’s guilty plea on a new, fourth count of a Class C felony count of child molest.
Class C felonies carry potential penalties of two to eight years; the eight-year sentence Hancock Circuit Court Judge Richard Culver handed down is the maximum sentence for Loyd’s crime.
The victim’s father took the stand during a sentencing hearing Thursday to read a letter the girl had penned, asking the judge for a severe punishment for Loyd.
In the letter — which expressed many of the same thoughts as one she read aloud last week during Celio’s sentencing — the girl said she often feels dirty and angry because of the abuse she suffered. Though she knows she can’t change what happened, she often haunted by the memories.
“It’s time for people to grow up and stop treating children like toys,” the girl’s father said, reading from his daughter’s letter.
Loyd blamed to abuse on his drug habit, telling the judge he doesn’t remember much about the years when the victim claims the assaults occurred.
His attorney, Randy Sorrell of Fortville, characterized his clients drug use as “popping prescriptions pills like candy,” and told the judge Loyd had previously served time in prison on drug charges.
Loyd said he regretted what happened and apologized to the victim’s family and his own.
Members of the defendant’s family sent letters to the judge advocating for a shorter sentence for Loyd because they believed he deserved a second chance, officials said.
Though the notes were not read aloud in court, Hancock County Chief Deputy Prosecutor Marie Castetter referenced the letters in her argument for why Loyd should have to serve the maximum sentence.
Castetter said she understood the defendant’s families position; but Loyd played a part in stealing the little girl’s childhood, and she’ll never get that back.
“The victim would love to be outside of this prison she’ll be in for the rest of her life,” Castetter said.