Travis Conley
An initial hearing was held in Bartholomew Circuit Court for a Cass County man accused of sexually assaulting a former Columbus girl when she was only age 7.
Travis D. Conley, 26, of Galveston, Indiana has been formerly charged with a Level 1 felony charge of child molesting. If convicted, he could be sentenced to up to 40 years in prison, as well as ordered to pay a $10,000 fine.
During Conley’s initial hearing Thursday, Judge Kelly Benjamin set a change of plea hearing for April 10 at 2:45 p.m. and a tentative jury trial for May 9 at 8:30 a.m.
The case against the defendant was laid out in a probable cause affidavit filed last May by Columbus detectives.
It began with an August 19, 2021 report of child abuse or neglect made to state officials by a sheriff’s deputy in Crawford County, located west of Louisville, Kentucky.
The deputy informed the Indiana Department of Child Services that a seven-year-old girl claimed an adult male had forced her into submitting to sexual acts while she was living with her guardian in Columbus, the affidavit states. At the time of the alleged crimes, Conley had been temporarily staying at the home, according to court documents.
As a result of the deputy’s report, the child was interviewed at the Comfort House Child Advocacy Center in Corydon. After claiming that she was first touched inappropriately, the girl said Conley performed more deviant acts after ordering her to go into the bathroom, the affidavit states. The grandmother and the little girl lived in the Columbus house for no more than five months before they moved out, court documents state.
After the guardian confirmed Conley has stayed several weeks at the home, detectives interviewed the defendant, who initially denied having any sexual contact with the little girl, the affidavit states. But during further questioning, Conley changed his story to claim that that the 7-year-old tried to force herself on him, the affidavit states. A number of other inconsistencies were found in Conley’s version of events, detectives said in the court documents.
The probable cause affidavit was filed on March 9, 2022 – the same day Benjamin issued a no contact order in the case. But when officers in Knox County attempted to arrest Conley a month earlier, the residence he was staying at near Vincennes was discovered to be empty.
It wasn’t until earlier this month, on Feb. 3, that local investigators discovered Conley had been ordered to serve nearly two years in prison by a Cass County judge for failing to register as a sex or violent offender.
A Switzerland County judge had ordered Conley to do so for a period of 10 years after he was found guilty of child solicitation on Jan. 22, 2020.
