***MEDIA ADVISORY***

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE: November 13, 2015

RAPIST, REPEAT SEXUAL OFFENDER, HABITUAL CRIMINAL OFFENDER SENTENCED TO 90 YEARS

Media Contact: Curtis T. Hill, Jr. (574) 296-1888

Thursday afternoon, Jerry Wayne Young, of Michigan City, was sentenced to ninety years in the Indiana Department of Corrections after being found guilty on October 12 of the crimes of Rape and Criminal Deviate Conduct, both class A felonies, and Intimidation, a class D felony. Young also admitted to being a Repeat Sexual Offender and a Habitual Criminal Offender.

In October of 2012, Elkhart Police were called in the early morning to a report of rape at a residence on West Marion Street in Elkhart. The victim reported that a man had pushed his way into her apartment in the middle of the night, raped her, and forced her to perform oral sex on him. The man threatened her repeatedly and threatened to kill her as she finally was able to flee from her own home.

After a sexual assault examination at Elkhart General Hospital and investigation by the Elkhart Police and Indiana State Police, including the use of DNA evidence, Young was identified as the rapist and charged by the Elkhart County Prosecutor’s Office. He was tried before an Elkhart County jury last month in Elkhart Superior Court One.

At sentencing Thursday, Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Patrick Dowd noted Young’s atrocious criminal history, which includes multiple Burglary convictions, multiple sex crimes, felony convictions for robbery and battery, and a litany of other misdemeanor and alcohol-related offenses. Mr. Dowd also highlighted Young’s history of shirking responsibility and making excuses for his misdeeds; and, as if to make Mr. Dowd’s point, Young audibly complained and argued throughout the sentencing hearing.

In pronouncing the sentence, Judge Evan Roberts agreed that Young had an “ongoing pattern of denial of responsibility” and had frittered away literally dozens of opportunities for rehabilitation over his thirty-five-year criminal history. Judge Roberts noted that the evidence at trial was “overwhelming” and referred to the victim’s tearful, terrified 911 call, recounting in detail her horrifying ordeal just minutes before the call. The Judge concluded that Young was among the worst of criminal offenders and sentenced young to the maximum for his crimes. Young will serve his sentence at the Indiana Department of Corrections.

***

“Under Indiana law, all persons arrested for a criminal offense are innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.”