Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A Mentone man sentenced to 120 years in prison for child molesting saw his sentence cut in half by the Indiana Court of Appeals last month.
Anthony J. DeMarco, now 27, formerly of Mentone and currently serving a 120-year sentence for four counts of Class A felony child molesting, appealed the sentenced meted by Kosciusko Superior Court Judge Duane Huffer Feb. 20, 2006. The Indiana Court of Appeals decided the sentence was not appropriate and reduced the punishment to 60 years in prison.
DeMarco's attorney David Kolbe appealed the sentence, arguing that errors were made during DeMarco's trial.
According to the Indiana Court of Appeals, the argument was made that "the trial court erred in allowing evidence establishing that the victim had observed DeMarco molest another individual and that it was an error to permit a probation officer to testify at sentencing that there were four additional charges pending against DeMarco."
Kolbe and DeMarco also argued that the 120-year sentence for the crimes was not appropriate.
While the court of appeals ruled that the court did not err by allowing the testimony about another molestation or by allowing the probation officer to testify about pending charges; appeals court didn't agree with the 120-year sentence.
"We find that DeMarco's sentence was inappropriate when considering the nature of the offense and his character," said a memorandum from the Indiana Court of Appeals.
The court ordered DeMarco's sentence to be modified, reflecting "a sentence of 30 years each as to counts I and II to be served consecutively, with the two remaining counts to run concurrently, thus yielding a total executed sentence of 30 years."
"In our view, while DeMarco's conduct was certainly vile and despicable, we cannot say that the imposition of a 120-year aggregate sentence was warranted in these circumstances. Put another way, we cannot agree that the imposition of consecutive sentences on each of the four counts was appropriate. Accordingly, we agree with the trial court that the appropriate sentence for DeMarco is the advisory 30-year term on each count; however, we conclude that the sentences as to counts I and II should run consecutively and the remaining sentences should run concurrently for a total executed term of 60 years," said documents released by the appeals court.
Judge Huffer declined comment on the judgement.
DeMarco was convicted of the four counts of child molesting after a three-day trial in February. After finding DeMarco guilty, the jury also decided six aggravators would affect his sentence.
DeMarco was set to stand trial for two other Class A felony child molesting charges and three Class C felony child molesting charges last year, but trial dates for those charges were postponed pending the outcome of the appeal.
The Warsaw Police Department and Kosciusko County Child Protective Services began investigating the case March 7, 2005.
DeMarco was suspended from his part-time job at the Kosciusko Community YMCA March 9, 2005, after allegations of inappropriate conduct surfaced. The YMCA then issued a letter to its members and released a statement regarding the incident.
Police believe many of the victims were introduced to DeMarco during his employment at the YMCA and related camps and outings, although no evidence shows anyone was abused at the facility. DeMarco was hired at the Kosciusko Community YMCA as the youth sports coordinator in 2001 and held various positions in the four years he worked there.
DeMarco was a fourth- and fifth-grade basketball coach at the former Burket Elementary School, a substitute teacher in the area, a court-appointed special advocate, a volunteer with Big Brothers Big Sisters and a reserve police officer in Mentone and Silver Lake. He also was employed at the Whitley County YMCA.
Police established probable cause for DeMarco's arrest after interviewing children who implicated him for allegedly molesting them. DeMarco allegedly befriended parents, then found ways to be alone with their children, usually young boys.
Judge Huffer issued a gag order in the case March 22, 2006, after DeMarco's attorney filed a document requesting it, citing media attention surrounding the case and the possibility of tainting the jury pool. Public documents filed in the case are available in the Kosciusko County Justice Building, but officials involved in the case were not allowed to comment.
