By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Daniel S. Louvier

WARSAW — A Silver Lake man was sentenced to 24 years in prison after molesting two children.

Daniel S. Louvier, 37, was charged with two counts of child molesting, both level 4 felonies. He was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court One on Monday, Nov. 9. During a one-day jury trial in mid-October, Louvier was found guilty on both charges.

According to court documents, on Dec. 9, 2019, a Child Protective Services caseworker contacted the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office. The caseworker said she had received complaints of molestation committed by Louvier that involved fondling two children.

A forensic interview was conducted by a DCS family case manager with one of the children on Dec. 9, 2019. During the interview, the child said Louvier touched them inappropriately multiple times over the past year. The child said the touching would happen when they were watching movies or television together. The child also said Louvier would pull them closer to him or pull them onto his lap and touch them inappropriately.

On Dec. 11, 2019, a forensic interview was conducted with the second child. The child said Louvier touched them inappropriately multiple times during the previous school year. The child said they would be sitting on the couch watching television when Louvier would pull them closer and touch them.

Both of the children’s mothers were present during the sentencing, with one of the mothers reading a letter written by her child.

“This event has affected me and how I feel,” read the child’s letter. “It made me lose trust in people … he made me lose sleep. He made it feel like it was normal for dads to touch their kids like this.”

One of the mothers said her child had nothing left to say about the incidents because what he did was not worth their time.

“I’m proud of (the child) for that,” said the mother. “He (Louvier) is a predator, the most cowardly kind. What he has stolen he cannot give back. What can happen is justice for these girls. He will not define our lives.”

In his statement to the court, Voelz noted Louvier’s criminal history and said he is “not a person to be trusted with probation.”

“This behavior occurred to each of these children several times,” said Voelz. “He put his own children through that and he is a sexually violent predator.”

Defense Attorney Travis Neff said Louvier has not done anything criminal for almost 10 years and said he is unlikely to commit another crime.

“I can’t negate the jury,” said Louvier when asked if he would like to give a statement. “I did not do these things. Even when I lost my wife, my kids…I still stood and fought on my own.”

Louvier also mentioned issues he had with the first public defender appointed to him in this matter, stating that he felt scare tactics were being used in order for him to take a plea deal.

“I give credit to the victims for standing up and saying what happened so publicly,” said Kosciusko Superior Court One Judge David Cates. “You were in a position of trust and you violated that trust. This caused significant harm to the victims, with multiple acts committed to each victim. I cannot find any mitigators here.”

For each count of child molesting, Louvier was sentenced to 12 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections; both counts will be served consecutively. Louvier is to have no contact with any of the victims. He also has 283 days of jail time credit in this case.

Louvier said he intends to pursue an appeal regarding the court’s sentence.