A Warsaw man is facing several child molesting charges.
Paul B. Maples, 54, of 2983 N. Murphy Lane, Warsaw, is charged with three counts of child molesting, level 1 felonies; and three counts of child molesting, level 4 felonies.
He was booked into the Kosciusko County Jail at 1:40 p.m. Monday on a $5,250 preliminary bond.
According to the probable cause affidavit, on April 11 dispatch advised of a possible child molestation case. A Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office detective responded to the call and met with a woman who said her child recently said Maples touched and molested them for the past five years. The child provided a notebook that allegedly described incidents that happened for the last five years.
On April 11, the child completed a forensic interview at the Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center, where the child said the first time a sexual incident happened, the child was 8 years old. Maples allegedly asked the child to lay in his bed with him. Maples stopped when the child needed to go to bed and Maples told the child not to tell anyone.
The child also said the most recent incident happened in November and the child was 12. The child additionally said the last time Maples had sex with them was when they were 11, according to court documents.
The child said they were scared to tell anyone.
The child said the alleged molestation happened approximately three times a month usually at night, over 20 times every year when she was 8, 9 and 10.
The detective spoke with the woman who provided the notebook with the letter the child wrote that said if the child would perform a sexual act on Maples, he would do their chores or they would receive more time to play Xbox. The woman remembered Maples doing the dishes for the child and thought it was weird and mentioned it to Maples as it did not make sense that Maples did the child’s chores, according to court documents.
On Monday, the detective spoke with Maples and advised Maples of his Miranda rights. Maples agreed to speak to the detective. Maples said the molesting occurred when the child was 11 and 12. He said he did not have sex with the child, but did admit he touched the child inappropriately, according to court documents.
Maples said when the events happened, the woman was gone, asleep or in another room and didn’t know the incident happened. Maples implied he didn’t threaten, force or make promises to the child.