HANCOCK COUNTY — A Shelbyville man accused of child molesting will have his case heard by a jury after his attorney unexpectedly withdrew a plea agreement.
Keith Wade was set to plead guilty Friday to a Class C child molest charge when discussion in Hancock Circuit Court turned to the requirement that Wade would have to register as a sex offender. Circuit Judge Scott Sirk told Wade he would face a lifetime listing on the sex offender registry. But Philip Sheward, Wade’s lawyer, contended part of the plea agreement called for Wade to register as a sex offender for only 10 years, set to begin as soon as he was released from prison.
Sheward moved to withdraw the previously accepted plea agreement with officials from the Hancock County prosecutors office. Marie Castetter, chief deputy prosecutor, said the lifelong registration was required due to the age of the child affected.
Sirk set the matter for a jury trial at 8:30 a.m. Tuesday, March 19. Wade has been charged with three counts of child molest — two Class A felony counts of child molesting and one Class C felony count of child molesting. He remains in jail.
Class A felony counts carry a penalty range of 20 to 50 years in prison. Class C felony counts carry a penalty range of two to eight years.
In the voided plea deal, Wade had agreed to plead guilty to the Class C felony charge and receive a four-year sentence with three years executed, with credit for the time he has spent in jail. The balance of the time would be served in the Hancock County Community Corrections work release program.
The agreement had also called for all remaining counts against Wade to be dismissed, but Wade will now face all three counts at the trial, unless the two sides can reach another agreement before the trial date, Castetter said.
Wade was arrested February 2018 after a child told police Wade abused her repeatedly for years, including several instances that occurred while Wade was living in Greenfield from 2012 to 2014, records state.
The girl reported Wade abused her while he was living in Jennings and Shelby counties as well; investigations into his actions in those counties are pending, according to court records.
The abuse ranged from inappropriate touching to sex acts, the girl told police, according to court documents.
The girl told police she never confided in anyone what Wade had done to her because Wade “told her not to tell anyone or she would get in trouble,” court documents state.
But another child saw Wade abusing the girl on at least one occasion, court documents said.
That child was interviewed by police and said she saw Wade touch the victim inappropriately. The child said she saw the victim in Wade’s bedroom without any clothes on during another occasion, court documents state.
