Juvenile Sentenced To Two Years After Fleeing Pierceton Woods

November 22, 2019 at 12:24 a.m.

By Amanda [email protected]

A teenager with a lengthy juvenile rap sheet was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday as an adult.

Tavion Beard, 17, of Anderson, appeared in front of Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge David Cates Thursday and was convicted of escape, a Level 5 felony. A Level 6 felony theft charge and a misdemeanor possession of a firearm charge were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Chief Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz said Beard has accumulated a long criminal record in his young life and it’s very troubling.

“This is his first time in adult court and the first time he’ll face adult consequences,” Beard’s attorney, Austin Rovenstine, said.

Cates told Beard he has an extensive juvenile record and that he is now in adult court. He sentenced Beard to two years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with two days of jail time credit. Cates urged Beard to change his ways.

“You’re on the wrong path,” Cates said.

According to the probable cause affidavit, on Sept. 2, 2018, Beard escaped from Pierceton Woods Academy with two other boys. The boys ransacked unlocked vehicles in the area looking for valuables and money, resulting in Beard taking a loaded handgun out of one vehicle. The boys eventually dumped the stolen items, including the loaded gun, outside of a residence and turned themselves in the following day.

Police then learned that Beard told the other two boys he “wanted the handgun to obtain money and talked about going back to Pierceton Woods Academy with the handgun with unknown intentions.”

Court records state Beard was convicted in Madison County Circuit Court II on May 4, 2018, for dangerous possession of a firearm.



A teenager with a lengthy juvenile rap sheet was sentenced to two years in prison Thursday as an adult.

Tavion Beard, 17, of Anderson, appeared in front of Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge David Cates Thursday and was convicted of escape, a Level 5 felony. A Level 6 felony theft charge and a misdemeanor possession of a firearm charge were dismissed as part of the plea agreement.

Chief Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz said Beard has accumulated a long criminal record in his young life and it’s very troubling.

“This is his first time in adult court and the first time he’ll face adult consequences,” Beard’s attorney, Austin Rovenstine, said.

Cates told Beard he has an extensive juvenile record and that he is now in adult court. He sentenced Beard to two years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with two days of jail time credit. Cates urged Beard to change his ways.

“You’re on the wrong path,” Cates said.

According to the probable cause affidavit, on Sept. 2, 2018, Beard escaped from Pierceton Woods Academy with two other boys. The boys ransacked unlocked vehicles in the area looking for valuables and money, resulting in Beard taking a loaded handgun out of one vehicle. The boys eventually dumped the stolen items, including the loaded gun, outside of a residence and turned themselves in the following day.

Police then learned that Beard told the other two boys he “wanted the handgun to obtain money and talked about going back to Pierceton Woods Academy with the handgun with unknown intentions.”

Court records state Beard was convicted in Madison County Circuit Court II on May 4, 2018, for dangerous possession of a firearm.



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