GOSHEN — A former Goshen man who pleaded guilty in May 2000 to molesting his three daughters and a niece over a period of 17 years, will seek release from prison a year early in Elkhart Superior Court 3 Thursday morning.

Robert James Rodes, 55, is projected to be released from the New Castle Correctional Facility in January 2018, according to state prison records. In May 2000, Rodes, then 38, agreed to guilty pleas on two counts of felony child molestation.

Rodes filed for a modifcation of sentence in Superior Court 3 in September. In his filing, he says if released he would live in Nappanee with his wife, Lera Rodes, after completing a three-month residency at Walking with Jesus Ministries, South Bend.

“This program allows me to properly adjust back into society with individual sponsors that will guide me back,” Rodes wrote in the September court filing.

Additionally, Rodes said in his filing that he has gainful employment lined up with a Goshen man at an undisclosed business in Wakarusa, should he be released.

While imprisoned, Rodes also mentioned in the recent court filing that he has completed rehabilitative courses, including parenting skills, anger management, life skills and change in action. Rodes stated he also hasn’t received major conduct violations while as an inmate.

A doctor who examined Rodes prior to his sentencing in May 2000 found him to be “an extreme high risk to repeat these offenses,” and “not a good candidate for therapeutic intervention and his chances for successful therapy are virtually nil,” according to the filed judgment of conviction.

Former Superior Court 3 Judge George W. Biddlecome said in his judgment of conviction that Rodes refused to disclose records of prior treatment at Freedom Hills Clinic in Ohio, and that he was unwilling to accept responsibility for what he had done, which Biddlecome considered to be aggravating circumstances.

Biddlecome stated in his judgment that previous treatment was “obviously an utter failure since the defendant continued to molest these children after the completion of that treatment.”

Rodes was transported from New Castle to the Elkhart County jail for his court appearance.

Source: Goshen News