John Sutherlin
John Sutherlin
A Warsaw man was arrested on child molestation charges after allegedly molesting two children under the age of 14.

John Jeremy Sutherlin, 31, of 1570 Loher Lane, Warsaw, is charged with two counts of child molesting, Level 1 felonies; and two counts of child molesting, Level 4 felonies.

He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 3:08 p.m. Wednesday on a $150,250 preliminary bond.

According to the probable cause affidavit, on July 9, 2021, a Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office deputy responded to a report of child molestation. The deputy was informed two children said they had been molested by Sutherlin.

On July 13, 2021, the first child was interviewed at Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. She said she was touched inappropriately by Sutherlin in groin area. She said Sutherlin called the inappropriate touching “touching games” and it happened more than 10 times.

The first child described an incident between June and July 2020 where Sutherlin penetrated her and told her not to tell any one. The first child said she was scared of Sutherlin.

On July 13, 2021, the second child was interviewed at Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center. The second child said she was touched inappropriately by Sutherlin. She also described an incident where Sutherlin touched her with his genitals.

Investigators determined the alleged occurrences of molestation of the first child occurred between 2015 and 2021 and the molestation of the second child happened between 2020 and 2021, according to court documents.

On Aug. 18, 2021, a deputy read Sutherlin his Miranda rights and he agreed to speak with law enforcement. He denied inappropriately touching both children and agreed to a polygraph examination.

On Oct. 15, 2021, Sutherlin waived his Miranda rights and agreed to a polygraph examination with an Indiana State Police trooper. At the end of the examination, it was determined by the trooper that Sutherlin was being deceptive while answering questions about inappropriately touching the two children, according to court documents. Sutherlin continued to deny the allegations.

In the post-examination interview, Sutherlin said there was one time six years ago he was laying naked in bed when the first child jumped under the covers with him. Sutherlin noted his genitals could have touched her groin area during that event, according to court documents.

Sutherlin was on a pretrial release for a case regarding theft of a motor vehicle in Kosciusko Superior Court III. That case is set for pretrial conference on Monday.

Sutherlin has prior misdemeanor convictions for resisting law enforcement, theft, operating a vehicle while intoxicated and reckless driving.