Man Convicted Of Sexual Misconduct Seeks Modification To Sentence
January 16, 2020 at 11:43 p.m.
By Amanda [email protected]
Dylan Houser was arrested in 2017 after North Manchester Police received information from a juvenile’s parents that Houser and a girl had been inappropriately messaging.
When police spoke with the victim, she said she had sex with Houser from March 2017 to May 2017: four times in Wabash County and 60 times in Kosciusko County at his Center Street home. In May 2017, Houser’s wife caught Houser and the girl naked in bed together, court papers state. Houser was 22 at the time of his arrest.
Warsaw attorney David Kolbe represented Houser in Wabash Circuit Court as he faced a Level 4 felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor. Through a plea agreement, Houser was sentenced Jan. 7, 2019, to nine years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with two years suspended to probation.
On Sept. 20, 2018, through a plea agreement, Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge David Cates sentenced Houser to 16 years in the IDOC, with two years suspended to probation for two Level 4 felony sexual misconduct with a minor convictions. Those sentences run concurrently, and the Wabash County sentence runs concurrently with the Kosciusko County sentence.
Lennox was Houser’s attorney for the Kosciusko County case.
Lennox was arrested and charged in April with multiple felonies, including fraud and theft. He’s due to be sentenced as part of a plea agreement at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 in Marshall County Superior Court II. Lennox was disbarred.
Houser is serving his sentence in the New Castle Correctional Facility and filed a petition for post conviction relief Aug. 29 through Kolbe.
Houser appeared in front of Cates Thursday for a hearing on the matter, along with Kolbe and Kosciusko County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz.
Houser argues that Lennox – who was representing him as a public defender – was incompetent counsel.
According to the petition, Houser writes, “My experience with Mr. Lennox was disappointing and at times, horrifying. I was severely misrepresented by him.”
He goes on to say that during his first meeting with Lennox after his arrest, he and his mother met at Lennox’s office.
“Mr. Lennox then requested that my mother remove herself so that he could discuss the details of my case. Once my mother left the room, Mr. Lennox stated, ‘So, what’s up? Was she slutty or something?’ He then reached down by his side and produced a Budweiser Lite beer can, which he began to drink in my presence during our first interview. He became very vulgar and behaved very unprofessionally,” Houser writes.
Houser also claims that he never spoke with Lennox after that first meeting until he would appear at court dates, to which Houser alleges Lennox would “speak rapidly to where he could not understand.”
“When he finally presented me a plea agreement, he sat down and ran through the items so fast that I did not understand it. He told me that in the plea agreement one of the two charges would be dismissed. He then convinced me it was our only option and he could not do better. Under duress and without clear understanding, and feeling that I had been badly underrepresented, I signed and pleaded guilty to the charges,” Houser writes.
He also claims that Lennox got in an argument with his mother in the courthouse over Lennox’s alleged lack of communicating with Houser and his family what was going on with the case. Lennox allegedly said it was not his responsibility to inform Houser or his family of what was going on.
“I did not hear from Mr. Lennox until my sentencing date, even though I made many attempts to speak with him. At my sentencing date I waited in the lobby for him, and when he finally showed up the only thing he said was, ‘Ready for nothing?’”
Houser continued that Lennox failed to mention anything about Houser’s rehabilitation, his character or his responsibilities as a husband and a man during his sentencing hearing.
“He only stated that I was young and would never do it again,” Houser writes. He said Lennox told him he would talk to him in the back after the sentencing, but after he was taken into custody, he’s never heard from or seen Lennox again.
“After a few days in the (Kosciusko County Jail) cell block, I was approached by several other inmates. One inmate informed me, ‘If you give Lennox an 8-ball of cocaine he would get you off,’” the petition reads. “The other inmate told me very personal details and facts regarding my case, and details involving the individual in my case that no person should know about. He then told me that Mr. Lennox was his attorney and gave him all the details of my case.”
Voelz argued that Houser entered the plea agreements in Kosciusko and Wabash counties under his own free will, and that he actually received a harsher sentence in Wabash County with Kolbe as his attorney.
Voelz also asked Houser if he indeed signed the agreements, that state in part under the penalties of perjury, “The defendant further says that he has had the opportunity to privately discuss this case with his attorney and tell him everything that the defendant wants his attorney to know about the case; that he has had enough time with counsel to completely discuss the nature of the crime with which he is charged, the legal standards applicable thereto, the punishment provided therefore upon conviction, any defenses that he may have and of the evidence against him; and further acknowledges that his attorney has answered all of his questions and has done everything that the defendant has asked his attorney to do, or if not, has given satisfactory explanation and that his attorney has rendered competent advice and has adequately represented the defendant’s interests.”
Houser said he did sign that, but that he trusted Lennox.
“I was under the assumption that to be a lawyer you had to be a decent person. I assumed he knew what he was doing,” Houser said.
Voelz noted the timeline of Houser’s petition filing is after charges got filed against Lennox.
Voelz also said Houser’s petition for post-conviction relief is “self-serving and opportunistic.”
Cates took the matter under advisement.
Dylan Houser was arrested in 2017 after North Manchester Police received information from a juvenile’s parents that Houser and a girl had been inappropriately messaging.
When police spoke with the victim, she said she had sex with Houser from March 2017 to May 2017: four times in Wabash County and 60 times in Kosciusko County at his Center Street home. In May 2017, Houser’s wife caught Houser and the girl naked in bed together, court papers state. Houser was 22 at the time of his arrest.
Warsaw attorney David Kolbe represented Houser in Wabash Circuit Court as he faced a Level 4 felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor. Through a plea agreement, Houser was sentenced Jan. 7, 2019, to nine years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with two years suspended to probation.
On Sept. 20, 2018, through a plea agreement, Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge David Cates sentenced Houser to 16 years in the IDOC, with two years suspended to probation for two Level 4 felony sexual misconduct with a minor convictions. Those sentences run concurrently, and the Wabash County sentence runs concurrently with the Kosciusko County sentence.
Lennox was Houser’s attorney for the Kosciusko County case.
Lennox was arrested and charged in April with multiple felonies, including fraud and theft. He’s due to be sentenced as part of a plea agreement at 11 a.m. Feb. 28 in Marshall County Superior Court II. Lennox was disbarred.
Houser is serving his sentence in the New Castle Correctional Facility and filed a petition for post conviction relief Aug. 29 through Kolbe.
Houser appeared in front of Cates Thursday for a hearing on the matter, along with Kolbe and Kosciusko County Chief Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Brad Voelz.
Houser argues that Lennox – who was representing him as a public defender – was incompetent counsel.
According to the petition, Houser writes, “My experience with Mr. Lennox was disappointing and at times, horrifying. I was severely misrepresented by him.”
He goes on to say that during his first meeting with Lennox after his arrest, he and his mother met at Lennox’s office.
“Mr. Lennox then requested that my mother remove herself so that he could discuss the details of my case. Once my mother left the room, Mr. Lennox stated, ‘So, what’s up? Was she slutty or something?’ He then reached down by his side and produced a Budweiser Lite beer can, which he began to drink in my presence during our first interview. He became very vulgar and behaved very unprofessionally,” Houser writes.
Houser also claims that he never spoke with Lennox after that first meeting until he would appear at court dates, to which Houser alleges Lennox would “speak rapidly to where he could not understand.”
“When he finally presented me a plea agreement, he sat down and ran through the items so fast that I did not understand it. He told me that in the plea agreement one of the two charges would be dismissed. He then convinced me it was our only option and he could not do better. Under duress and without clear understanding, and feeling that I had been badly underrepresented, I signed and pleaded guilty to the charges,” Houser writes.
He also claims that Lennox got in an argument with his mother in the courthouse over Lennox’s alleged lack of communicating with Houser and his family what was going on with the case. Lennox allegedly said it was not his responsibility to inform Houser or his family of what was going on.
“I did not hear from Mr. Lennox until my sentencing date, even though I made many attempts to speak with him. At my sentencing date I waited in the lobby for him, and when he finally showed up the only thing he said was, ‘Ready for nothing?’”
Houser continued that Lennox failed to mention anything about Houser’s rehabilitation, his character or his responsibilities as a husband and a man during his sentencing hearing.
“He only stated that I was young and would never do it again,” Houser writes. He said Lennox told him he would talk to him in the back after the sentencing, but after he was taken into custody, he’s never heard from or seen Lennox again.
“After a few days in the (Kosciusko County Jail) cell block, I was approached by several other inmates. One inmate informed me, ‘If you give Lennox an 8-ball of cocaine he would get you off,’” the petition reads. “The other inmate told me very personal details and facts regarding my case, and details involving the individual in my case that no person should know about. He then told me that Mr. Lennox was his attorney and gave him all the details of my case.”
Voelz argued that Houser entered the plea agreements in Kosciusko and Wabash counties under his own free will, and that he actually received a harsher sentence in Wabash County with Kolbe as his attorney.
Voelz also asked Houser if he indeed signed the agreements, that state in part under the penalties of perjury, “The defendant further says that he has had the opportunity to privately discuss this case with his attorney and tell him everything that the defendant wants his attorney to know about the case; that he has had enough time with counsel to completely discuss the nature of the crime with which he is charged, the legal standards applicable thereto, the punishment provided therefore upon conviction, any defenses that he may have and of the evidence against him; and further acknowledges that his attorney has answered all of his questions and has done everything that the defendant has asked his attorney to do, or if not, has given satisfactory explanation and that his attorney has rendered competent advice and has adequately represented the defendant’s interests.”
Houser said he did sign that, but that he trusted Lennox.
“I was under the assumption that to be a lawyer you had to be a decent person. I assumed he knew what he was doing,” Houser said.
Voelz noted the timeline of Houser’s petition filing is after charges got filed against Lennox.
Voelz also said Houser’s petition for post-conviction relief is “self-serving and opportunistic.”
Cates took the matter under advisement.
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