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Last updated on Monday, February 27, 2012
(BLOOMFIELD) - The child molestation trial of a rural Bloomington man scheduled to begin Tuesday has been canceled after Greene Circuit Judge Erik Allen accepted a negotiated plea agreement. (GC DAILY WORLD)
41-year-old Timothy Sylvester of Bloomington was charged April 26, 2011 with two counts of child molestation.
Sylvester has agreed to a guilty plea to the lesser Class C child molesting charge and the state will drop the Class A child molestation charge.
Sentencing is set for 11 a.m. on March 9.
According to the plea agreement, the prosecution recommends that Sylvester receive six years in the Indiana Department of Correction with all but time served suspended and credit for the number of days served.
The recommendation also calls for "informal" probation for three years; a $25 fine plus court costs; a $250 sexual assault victim fee; a $100 child abuse prevention fee; and mandatory registration as a sex offender.
The charges stem from an Aug. 11, 2010 investigation by the Monroe County Sheriff's Department, and the Monroe County Department of Child Services.
The case was referred to Greene County authorities after it was determined that the residence was located in Greene County.
The incident happened at a residence on N. County Line Road in Greene County where the 12-year-old female victim's grandparents lived.
The victim had been visiting her grandparents for about three weeks when the incident took place.
Sylvester is alleged to have been living at the same home.
He is accused of following the victim into her bedroom where she had gone to take an afternoon nap. He allegedly started rubbing her leg, then put his hand under a sheet touching her buttocks and other private body areas, according to a probable cause affidavit filed by Greene County Prosecutor office investigator Julie Criger.
The grandmother kicked the suspect out of her home on Aug. 27, 2010 after the alleged incident was reported to her by her grandmother.
Criger said the victim had posted information about the molestation on her Facebook page.
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