Warsaw Man Found Guilty Of Child Molesting, Possession Of Child Pornography
WARSAW — A Warsaw man was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior 1 Court Thursday, April 12, after an incident that occurred Dec. 23, 2016, involving minors.
Andrew Steven Finch, 32, 318 S. Lake St., Warsaw, was found guilty on two counts of child molesting, level 4 felonies, and possession of child pornography, a level 6 felony.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, a juvenile reported that during an overnight stay at Finch’s home on Dec. 23, 2016, he and two other juveniles had been given alcohol by Finch.
The juvenile stated he had woken up to his genitalia being touched. The juvenile advised he kept his eyes shut. When his pants were pulled back up, the juvenile witnessed Finch getting back into his bed, which was in the same room. The juvenile believes it was Finch who was inappropriately touching him. The juvenile left the residence at that time to contact his parents.
Officers working with Child Protective Services were able to identify and interview two other juvenile boys who had also stayed overnight at Finch’s home.
According to the affidavit of probable cause, one of the juveniles confirmed that Finch had given them alcohol. The juvenile reported that Finch had exposed himself to him on several occasions during the visit and would attempt to coax the juveniles to “tickle” a spot on Finch’s scrotum. The juvenile stated that Finch had also touched him inappropriately and had shown the juvenile pornographic images on Finch’s cell phone.
Officers obtained a search warrant of Finch’s cellphone and found several photographs of pubescent and prepubescent boys.
Officers found images of an exposed pubescent boy on Finch’s phone and discovered the images were of a juvenile who had stayed at Finch’s home. The juvenile identified clothing in the picture, advising that the clothing was still in the basement of Finch’s house. The juvenile also confirmed the “tickling spot” as reported by the previous juvenile, and told officers that Finch had shown him pornographic material on his cell phone.
Finch admitted that three juveniles had spent the nights of Dec. 22 and 23, 2016, at his residence. Finch also told officers that two of the juveniles had stayed at his residence for over a year and that he, Finch, considered himself as their guardian.
Finch’s attorney, Scott Lennox, informed the court that Finch has obtained his GED during the time he has been incarcerated.
“It’s sometimes hard to figure these things out,” said Lennox. “There’s not a criminal history that could have predicted this type of behavior.”
Finch told Judge David Cates that he is sorry for his actions, stating, “I’ve been in here for 16 months and there hasn’t been a day when I haven’t thought about it.”
“You made a horrific choice,” said Cates.
Cates sentenced Finch to serve six years at the Indiana Department of Corrections for the charge of count 1 child molesting, and six years at IDOC for the count II child molesting charge. Additionally, Cates sentenced Finch to one year at IDOC for the charge of count V possession of child pornography. Cates ordered that the sentences for counts II and V be suspended and served on probation. Those sentences were ordered to be served concurrently, but consecutive to the sentence in count I. Pursuant to the plea agreement, two other charges were dismissed.
Finch was given jail time credit of 489 days and ordered to register as a sex offender.