GREENFIELD — Judges have ordered a man serving time in prison to return to Hancock County to answer to charges filed against him four years ago, accusing him of sex crimes against two minors.
In 2013, two teenage girls told Greenfield Police Department detectives that Shawn Adams, 25, of Greenfield, forced them to have sex with him on separate occasions, according to court records.
The allegations resulted in two criminal cases being filed against Adams that same year; but court records show the man was never arrested in either case, and warrants issued are still pending.
This week — four years after the charges were filed locally — local judges signed orders summoning Adams to their courtrooms.
The defendant is currently locked up in an Indiana Department of Correction facility, serving a sentence in a Madison County armed robbery case.
He’s expected to be brought to Greenfield in the coming days, officials said. An initial hearing in one of his local cases is scheduled for late next week, records show.
Prosecutors said they aren’t sure why Adams was sent to prison without first being brought to Hancock County to face the charges filed against him here.
Deputy prosecutor Cathy Wilson, who rekindled the state’s investigation into Adams said department of correction leaders often check to see all cases against an offender are closed before booking them into a prison facility to serve a sentence.
The practice ensures an inmate isn’t carted from county to county for regular court appearances while also serving time, she said.
Hancock County officials issued a warrant for Adams’ arrest in June 2013 and again in October 2013 after four sexual assault charges were filed against the man, records show.
That October, Adams was sentenced to serve time in prison after being convicted of felony armed robbery in Madison County, records show.
Once offenders have been booked into a state prison, only an order from a judge can bring them back to a county jail to answer to an outstanding warrant, Wilson said.
After she and other prosecutors discovered the cases against Adams were still pending, Wilson asked local judges to order Adams be brought back to Hancock County. Those requests were quickly granted, records show.
Adams faces a total of four felony charges involving sexual misconduct, according to court documents. Police say Adams had inappropriate sexual relationships with two minors in 2013.
Both girls told police Adams had forced her to have sex with him on several occasions when they were alone at his Greenfield home, court documents state.
Detectives noted in their reports that the story the victims detailed were similar, according to court documents. For example, Adams whispered the same phrase to both girls when harming them, police said.
During an interview with Greenfield Police Department detectives, Adams denied touching either girl. He told police he didn’t know why the girls would have said he had harmed them, court documents state.
As part of their investigation, officers obtained recorded phone calls and video-taped visits between Adams and a now ex-girlfriend. At the time, Adams was being held in the Madison County Jail in the armed robbery case, records show.
In one recorded conversation, Adams’ ex-girlfriend confronted him about the sexual assault allegations, police said. In response, Adams said to the woman, “Don’t ask questions you don’t want to know the answers to,” according to court documents.
In the case filed in Hancock Circuit Court, Adams faces three Class C felony counts, each carrying a maximum penalty of eight years in prison.
In the case filed in Hancock County Superior Court 1, Adams faces a single Class B felony count, which carries a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison.
A representative from the Indiana Department of Correction did not return a call for comment on this story.