David Blanton

WARSAW — A Fort Wayne man was sentenced in Superior Court I this morning, April 6, on sexual misconduct charges stemming from a 2016 sexual act with a Whitko Middle School student.

David W. D. Blanton, 20, Fort Wayne, was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, a level 5 felony, after he began talking to a girl on Facebook and arranged to meet up.

According to the affidavit, Blanton knew how old the middle schooler was when he made plans to pick her up at a gas station near her home. Blanton drove her to a church parking lot in Kosciusko County where he engaged in intercourse with her.

“My words can never truly express how sorry I am,” Blanton told the courts, previously stating it was an act of passion and he was caught up in the moment.

“I’m looking at documents of your communication,” Judge David Cates informed Blanton. “Page after page, after page, of communication. That was a long moment. That was a deliberate act.”

Cates sentenced Blanton to four years at the Indiana Department of Corrections, suspending one year to be served on probation. Cates also ordered Blanton to partake in Bowen Center’s sexual offender program, and ordered him to register as a sex offender per Indiana code.