HANCOCK COUNTY — There were multiple molest victims at various locations of childcare around the county, officials from the Hancock County Prosecutor’s said. The allegations surround new charges filed Wednesday afternoon against a Greenfield man accused of numerous molest crimes.
Jericho Lee Marvin Johnson, 26, 1600 block of Carlton Drive, Greenfield, has been charged with violating at least seven county children either at the YMCA after-school program at J.B. Stephens, the YMCA after-school program at Mt. Comfort Elementary School or at the Shining Stars Child Care Academy, 1295 N. State Street, Greenfield.
Johnson was in Hancock County Superior Court 1 Wednesday afternoon to face new charges after three more victims stepped forward following the eight initial charges in mid-February when four victims had come forward.
The new charges include a Level 1 felony count of child molest and two different Level 4 felony counts of child molest. The charges will be added to others already filed in Hancock County Superior Court 1 for a total of 11 different charges. Officials noted that at this time it is not clear if the court will handle the charges as one case or break them up into several different cases due to the different dates and locations.
Johnson is also facing four other Level 4 felony counts of child molest, two Level 5 felony counts of confinement where the victim is under 14 years of age, and two Level 6 felony counts of battery on a person less than 14 years old, stemming from incidents officials say happened in February of this year and in April of 2023.
Officials say the three new victims and one witness have all been forensically interviewed by officials, prompting the new charges filed this week.
“My concern as always is that when we have allegations of child sexual abuse is that there could be multiple victims that we don’t know about, so we are encouraging all victims to come forward,” Chief Deputy Prosecutor Aimee Herring said.
One of the newer victims, identified as Victim 5, and their family say they told officials with the Shining Stars Child Care Academy in March of 2023, over a year ago, that Johnson, who was employed there before going to the J.B. Stephens YMCA after-school program, had touched Victim 5 inappropriately, according to a probable cause affidavit.
The probable cause affidavit noted that when an official at Shining Stars Child Care Academy was told by the parent what had happened to their child (Victim 5) in March of 2023, a woman identified as “Miss Kelley” in the affidavit told the parent she checked the videos and did not find anything to substantiate juvenile Victim 5’s allegation.
When the Daily Reporter asked Herring if officials at Shining Stars should have called the Indiana Department of Child Services to report the incident, Herring noted she could not comment on that at this time. However, Herring did say that anyone who suspects a child has been harmed should contact state officials immediately.
“Indiana is a mandatory reporting state,” Herring said. “Everyone who believes a child could be a victim of sexual abuse is required to report that to DCS.”
The Daily Reporter reached out to officials with Shining Stars Child Care Academy but did not hear back from them by deadline.
According to a probable cause affidavit, Victim 5 was attending Shining Stars Child Care Academy in Greenfield where Johnson was employed as a teaching assistant when the incident occurred in March of 2023. The 6-year-old child came home one day in March and told their parent that “Mr. Jericho had touched (the child)” the report stated.
Officials noted that the parent contacted Shining Stars Child Care Academy officials, who sat down with the parents and told them they did not find any video indicating something had happened, despite the child telling her parents she was “pretty sure” something had happened and that Johnson would touch her when the teacher was out of the classroom.
The affidavit noted that Victim 5 continued to go to Shining Stars for a few months but began having behavioral issues. Officials said in the report that the parents could not figure out what was causing Victim 5 to have ongoing behavior problems while at Shining Stars. The affidavit went onto to say that Victim 5 started at another center and the parents noticed that Victim 5’s behavior changed dramatically.
Another child was interviewed as a witness in the case surrounding Victim 5 and has been identified as Witness 6. According to the report, the child told officials she saw Johnson touch Victim 5 and that Johnson would only stop when the teacher walked back into the room. Witness 6 also said that Johnson had also touched her, massaged her, but not on her private parts, the affidavit said.
In another affidavit, a child identified as Victim 7, a 4-year-old, who officials said also attended Shining Stars Child Care Academy, told officials Johnson had also touched their private parts and made them “feel uncomfortable,” the affidavit said.
An eighth victim came forward after the first alleged molestation was reported from incidents at the J.B. Stephens YMCA after-school program on Feb. 14, the affidavit said.
Victim 8, officials said in an affidavit, attended the Mt. Comfort Elementary School YMCA after-school program. Victim 8’s parents told officials that their child came forward and said Johnson had both slapped and touched their child inappropriately while at the after-school program at Mt. Comfort Elementary School, the affidavit stated.
Victim 8 also told officials during a forensic interview that they didn’t tell anyone due to being embarrassed, the affidavit said.
In Superior Court on Wednesday afternoon, Johnson, who was dressed in an orange jail jump suit, sat at the defense table next to his attorney and didn’t say anything when the judge increased his bond from $100,000 to $175,000 cash at the request of Herring who also requested and received no contact orders for all the new victims.
“He’s also not permitted to be working at any place where minors might be working,” Herring said.
Herring also noted that the new Level 1 felony charge of molest carries anywhere from 20 to 50 years in prison if Johnson is found guilty. Herring said that, now more than ever, parents and people who work with children need to have conversations with them about body safety.
