*WARNING: The following article contains information that may not be suitable for all readers.*

KOSCIUSKO — The parents of a local child are facing misdemeanor criminal charges after they allowed their minor child to be around a convicted child molester in their home.

Christopher Allan McCrum, 29; and Santana L. McCrum, 28, both of 109 Eastlake Drive, Warsaw, are being charged with failure to make a report, class B misdemeanors. 

On Jan. 18, a detective with the Goshen Police Department reported a potential child molestation that occurred in Pierceton. The individual involved, Kenneth Moore, had already been arrested on Jan. 16, for a child molestation that had occurred at a Goshen residence. Moore is currently incarcerated in the Elkhart County Correctional Complex with pending charges.

During the investigation, officers learned about Moore’s involvement with the daughter of Christopher and Santana McCrum. According to the affidavit of probable cause, Moore has been friends with the McCrum’s for over 20 years and visited their Pierceton home around twice a week. The McCrum children refer to Moore as “Grandpa Ken.”

When the McCrum’s discovered that Moore was arrested, they remembered a time when one of their children told them that “Grandpa Ken” had fondled her. According to a Department of Child Services report, the child told her parents that Moore touched her inappropriately every time he visited when her parents were out of the room.

An interview was conducted by DCS with Christopher and Santana. The parents advised that their child had first mentioned the inappropriate actions in January 2018. When asked why they did not report the incident then, the report states the parents advised they chose to confront Moore personally instead of reporting it because they “didn’t want him to go back to jail over accusations from their daughter.”

According to the report, Moore advised that he passed a lie detector test related to the incident. This news was enough for the parents to believe Moore and continue to allow him into their home and to interact with their child. The McCrum’s further admitted that they knew Moore was a registered sex offender. When Moore was arrested by the Goshen Police for a separate incident, the parents reportedly felt that it wasn’t important to report that their daughter had been molested by Moore since he was currently in jail, it was “justice served.”

An interview with Moore related to the incident was conducted. Moore admitted to touching the child inappropriately. He was unable to advise how many times the child molesting occurred, but stated it was fewer than 100 times. He admitted that the molesting took place when the child’s parents left the room and that he advised the child not to tell her parents.

On Feb. 21, a Family Case Manager met with Christopher and Santana to discuss their repercussions for lack of supervision. The case manager found that there is evidence to support the allegations of neglect against Christopher and Santana. The report states that Christopher and Santana allowed Moore to be a part of their child’s environment despite knowing that he had a criminal history as a child molester. They endangered their child by not limiting Moore’s access to her.

The report further states that although DCS substantiates the allegations, a criminal case will not be opened against Moore due to his current incarceration. Instead, a no-contact order was filed and Moore is to remain incarcerated until his pending trial.

Both Christopher and Santana were booked into the Kosciusko County Jail on March 23, with bonds of $500 cash.