HANCOCK COUNTY — Saying the children of Hancock County “must be protected,” Judge Scott Sirk sentenced a Fortville man Thursday to 24 years in prison for sex crimes against two minors.
The defendant, Nicholas D. McHenry, 22, and his family wept as Sirk announced the decision during a sentencing hearing in Hancock County Circuit Court. McHenry received two 12-year sentences, which will run consecutively.
Although she thought the sentence was appropriate, deputy prosecutor Catherine Wilson said there were no winners. McHenry admitting molesting the two underage girls and revealed that he had been molested as a child as well.
“This is a hard one,” Wilson said. “I believe he is remorseful, and that is something we don’t always get.”
When he was arrested earlier this year, McHenry told police he hadn’t touched a child since 2015, when he was investigated for inappropriate contact. He was a juvenile at that time. McHenry admitted he had “urges” and had been trying to keep them in check, a probable cause affidavit said.
During the sentencing hearing Thursday, probation officer Mary Kay Dobbs testified about the abuse McHenry had endured, but she also reminded the court McHenry had been accused of molesting others when he was a juvenile.
Wilson, in her closing comments, referred to the two girls McHenry admitted to molesting as McHenry’s fourth and fifth victims.
It was a point Wilson hammered home, telling Sirk while she felt some compassion for the defendant, this case wasn’t about him. It was about the two children he molested.
“McHenry was the adult in this situation,” Wilson said. “He had a choice.”
The mother of the two girls also testified, telling the court both victims are in therapy. The younger child has struggled and his threatened suicide, the woman testified.
“This is going to affect them the rest of their lives, and I think he should face severe consequences,” the mother said.
McHenry testified before Sirk sentenced him and said he was remorseful, particularly because he knows what it’s like to be a victim of sexual abuse.
“I’ve failed as a human being,” McHenry said. “I can’t say I’m sorry enough.”
McHenry’s attorney, John Keyes, Greenfield, asked the court to consider the mitigating factors for his client, who he said was remorseful and also suicidal. Keyes also told the court McHenry’s rehabilitation ended when he turned 16 but should have lasted longer.
McHenry’s mother, Amanda McHenry, also took the stand and said her son feels as if he doesn’t belong on earth anymore.
“He says there is nothing he can do to take it back,” she said.
She also told the court the family thought McHenry’s own trauma was behind him when his rehabilitation stopped at age 16.
McHenry’s lawyer said that was a grave mistake by his family and then asked the judge to sentence his client to five years on each Level 4 felony charge of child molesting, which was punishable by up to 12 years each.
The probation department recommended 10 years for each count, but Sirk handed out the maximum sentence.
A Level 1 felony charge of child molesting was dropped as part of the plea deal. That charge carried up to 40 years in prison.
