By Liz Shepherd
InkFreeNews

Joshua Anthony Adamson

WARSAW — Five witnesses testified during the first day of a three-day jury trial for a man accused of molesting and raping a child in Kosciusko County.

Joshua Anthony Adamson, 39, Fairmount, is charged with two counts of child molestation, both Class A felonies; rape, a level 3 felony; and two counts of intimidation, both Class D felonies.

Adamson is being represented by Austin Rovenstine, Warsaw. The state’s case is being presented by Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Sobek.

In Indiana, a Class A felony, which is for a crime committed before July 1, 2014, is punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison, with an advisory sentence of 30 years.

Affidavit of Probable Cause

On Jan. 31, 2022, a Warsaw Police officer responded to a report of a child being molested by Adamson.

In an interview, a mother said their child told her Adamson molested them multiple times. The mother also said Adamson told the child if they told anyone about the abuse he would kill the child.

During an interview at Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center, the child said Adamson molested them on four occasions, including one time outside of the county.

The child said they were molested between January 2012 to November 2012. They said they were asleep when Adamson removed their clothing and inappropriately touched them.

The child also said they were molested by Adamson when he lived in a certain apartment, which he rented between January 2013 to January 2014.

During that incident, Adamson asked the child to bring him water. When the child did so, Adamson allegedly grabbed the child’s wrist and started to remove their clothes.

The child cried out, and Adamson told them to be quiet. He then engaged in several sexual activities with the child. After this, Adamson told the child if they told anyone what happened, he would kill them.

The child said the last time Adamson sexually assaulted them was in May 2021. Adamson forced himself on the child, even though the child told him “no” several times and attempted to push him away.

In the interview, the child said they were afraid Adamson would hurt someone since he previously went to prison. Adamson was convicted in Grant Superior Court 2 on Nov. 5, 2012, of domestic battery and intimidation.

Adamson denied ever touching the child, telling officers he suffered from erectile dysfunction and had lost his sex drive about eight years ago.

Trial Proceedings

Six men and eight women were seated on the jury in Kosciusko Superior Court One shortly after noon Monday, May 8, with Judge Karin McGrath presiding. Two of the jurors are alternates.

In his opening statement, Sobek recalled details listed in the affidavit of probable cause and said the victim would be discussing “sad, intimate and embarrassing details on what happened to (them) when (they were) younger.”

Rovenstine described the case as “messy” since it involves a long period of time between when the events allegedly first occurred and when they were reported. He noted physical evidence showing Adamson harmed the child would not be presented and that the victim also had a potential motive to fabricate the story.

Sobek then began the state’s case by calling the victim for testimony. The child is currently in high school.

The child testified about three separate instances where Adamson inappropriately touched them, all of which occurred at three separate locations in Warsaw. During the first two incidents, the child said they remembered being really scared and Adamson threatening to kill the child’s mother if they said anything about what happened. They also recalled details of how Adamson sexually interacted with them. The first two instances happened when the child was in elementary school, while the third happened in high school.

Prior to the third instance, the child was in their room talking to their significant other on the phone when Adamson walked in, becoming angry with the child. The child said they disconnected the call and Adamson inappropriately touched them. They said they tried to push Adamson off of them multiple times.

Following the third incident, the child wrote a note in their phone to their mother about what happened to them because they didn’t know how to process what was happening. The child also texted their significant other about what Adamson did to them and begged them not to say anything because they were fearful Adamson would harm their mother.

During cross-examination, Rovenstine asked the child about their interactions with Adamson. The child said they and Adamson had a lot of fights about the child’s relationship, recalling a trip they, Adamson and others took to New York to meet the child’s significant other.

The child said Adamson treated them poorly during the trip and made their public displays of affection with their significant other out to be a problem.

While concluding their testimony, the child said they live in fear and have lost things by coming forward about what happened to them, including a relationship with their mother and their will to live.

The state’s next two witnesses were the child’s maternal grandmother and grandfather. Ever since the child reported the molestation, they have been living with their grandparents.

The child’s grandmother described the child as being withdrawn and easily upset since they made the accusations against Adamson.

Warsaw Police Department Officer Kelly Bradley and WPD Corporal Jordan Roberts also testified about their involvement in the case. Bradley said she interviewed the child’s mother about what happened and described her as visibly upset. Roberts said he completed a forensic electronic extraction on the child’s cellphone, with the note the child wrote on their phone to their mother submitted as evidence to the court.

The trial will continue at 9 a.m. Tuesday, May 9, with more witnesses scheduled to testify.