GREENFIELD — A developmentally disabled man will serve no more time after he was sentenced this week for assaulting a woman in a group home in 2016.
Robert Ward, 58, Greenfield, told a judge he understood his behavior was illegal. He was accused of entering another resident’s room and touching her inappropriately; he also took photos of the woman with his cellphone.
He was sentenced Wednesday, in essence, to time served by Judge Terry Snow in Hancock County Superior Court 1 on two Level 6 felony charges of battery against an endangered adult. Two other higher level sex crime charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement. He also will serve no time on probation.
Ward, who was living in a group home for people with developmental disabilities at the time of the incident, sat in a wheelchair during the sentencing hearing. He had fallen Monday on his way to court from the Hancock County Jail, requiring him to be sent to the hospital for stitches on his head.
At the time of his arrest over three years ago, officials at the group home told Greenfield police officers Ward has a mild developmental disability. They estimated he has the mindset of a 14-year-old, court documents stated.
Over the past several years, as his case made its way through the court system, Ward spent some of his time in a special facility as experts worked to determine if he understood the severity of the charges against him.
His court-appointed attorney told the court his client understood the difference between good and bad behavior.
When the judge asked Ward where he grew up, he replied, after talking with his attorney, that he thought he grew up in Indiana.
The victim’s father was in favor of Ward getting a plea deal and didn’t want him placed on probation, Mary Kay Dobbs, probation officer, told the court. She handled the pre-sentence investigation and said she had concerns about Ward understanding terms of a parole or being asked to follow guidelines for probation, which could have included him being placed on a sex offender list.
In the end, the court accepted the plea agreement after chief deputy prosecutor Marie Castetter said the plea agreement was in the best interest of the victim, who is unable to speak and would have had a difficult time in court.
The victim is severely disabled and has the functionality of a 3-year-old, court documents stated. She was unable to provide a statement to investigators, according to court documents.
While family members said Ward had no business being in a courtroom or in jail, Castetter noted it was important for the state to bring the case before the court to shed light on abuses that can happen in adult group homes.
“We take these kinds of cases very seriously,” Castetter said. “We have to protect the community and hold people accountable.”
Dobbs hopes bringing this type of case to the forefront will help officials at group homes make sure they work with people living in the facilities and help them to understand proper behavior.
Once Ward was released from jail Wednesday, he does not have to worry about probation. However Ward will be under the supervision of the Social Security Administration and the Indiana Family and Social Services Administration.
The state has asked if Ward is placed into another group home in the future by his family that the facility be one without females.
