Travis Michael Dale Asher
HANCOCK COUNTY — A county man facing multiple felony sex crimes, which officials say began when a girl was 12 years old, had his case settled via a plea agreement in Hancock County Circuit Court late last week.
Travis Michael Dale Asher, 31, 7200 block of West 500 North, McCordsville, was facing four crimes in all including two different Level 1 felony counts of child molesting, punishable by up to 40 years in prison. The two most serious charges, however, were dismissed after Asher admitted guilt to the two lesser Level 4 felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor stemming from incidents in August 2014 and January 2016.
Asher was given a six-year term for each of the Level 4 felonies, but they are to be served concurrently, according to a plea agreement accepted by Judge Scott Sirk in his court Thursday. Four of the six years are to be served, executed at the Indiana Department of Corrections. The fifth year is to be served via home detention through Hancock County Community Corrections while the sixth year is to be served on sex offender specific formal probation.
Sirk, who told Asher he had real concerns with some of the comments he made in a pre-sentence investigation, calling them disturbing, made it clear Asher needed to change his behavior.
“I have grave concerns with your actions,” Sirk said as Asher sat at the defense table next to his attorney.
When Sirk asked Asher if he had anything to say when the sentence hearing started, Asher at first said, “No, your honor.” However, as the hearing continued Asher said, “I’m sorry for the unforgivable sins.”
Sirk told Asher he needed to accept responsibility for his actions, make serious changes in his life and to grow up and stop putting his desires above others.
“There are plenty of boys and very few men in this world,” Sirk told Asher. Following the sentencing Asher was escorted to the Hancock County Jail.
Part of the plea agreement also stated that Asher is to have no contact with the victim, who did not attend the sentencing hearing. Afterward, the victim’s mother approached officials with the prosecutor’s office and thanked them for seeing the case through.
Asher was originally arrested in July of 2021 for the crimes. At the time, officials with the prosecutor’s office noted that the statute of limitations on sexual assault cases varies, but in this case, prosecution must have begun before the victim, who is now 21, turned 31 years old.
According to a probable cause affidavit, law enforcement officials learned of the allegations against Asher in August 2020 and began what turned into a lengthy investigation. The victim told investigators she met Asher through relatives when she was a child (11 years old) in 2013.
The victim told officials Asher began to touch her inappropriately at a home in New Palestine in 2014, the affidavit said. The victim told officials she didn’t want Asher’s advances. Other unwanted encounters occurred later, the affidavit said.
According to the affidavit, she also was sent sexually explicit photos via social media and that Asher threatened to kill the victim if she ever told anyone about the relationship.
The victim told officials she was scared of Asher and he had slapped her in the face during an argument, the affidavit said. The victim eventually confided to a cousin in 2017 about what was happening, and word eventually made it to the girl’s parents, the report stated. The parents, however, only forbid Asher from seeing their daughter again and didn’t inform police of the allegations.
Detectives spoke with the mother of the victim, the affidavit said, who told police she was aware of what happened to her daughter, but that Asher had been a close family friend for years.
The victim’s mother presented officials with a letter dated June 18, 2017, that she had written with her husband to their daughter. The letter said they were aware of the sexual relationship with Asher. At the time, the victim would have been 15 years old, the affidavit said.
