Cromwell Man, Girlfriend Charged in Child Solicitation Case
Posted
Joe Boals-jboals@timesuniononline.com
CROMWELL – Two residents are in jail following an investigation by the Indiana State Police and Indiana Department of Child Services into a case of child solicitation. Ricky L. Johnson, 55, of 9732 E. Excalibur Place, Cromwell, was arrested Wednesday afternoon for child solicitation of a child under 14 and contributing to the delinquency of a minor under 18 with liquor. His girlfriend, Rebecca A. Sidwell, 39, same address, is charged with contributing to the delinquency of a minor under 18 with a drug. In February, DCS contacted the ISP after a father contacted the department over inappropriate text messages sent to his daughter. During its investigation, DCS spoke with the mother who reported finding approximately 70 sexually charged text messages from Johnson on her daughter’s cell phone. Johnson also expressed his intent to purchase alcohol for the underage girl. During ISP’s investigation, investigators spoke with siblings of the girl who were present at the Johnson/Sidwell household in February and observed Sidwell providing alcohol to the minor girl. One sibling forwarded Johnson’s texts and provided them to investigators. Another sibling reported the underage girl stated Sidwell also gave her a Xanax, also known as Alprazolam, a schedule IV controlled substance. The siblings witnessed Johnson making sexual advances and fondling the girl while she was intoxicated, according to the probable cause affidavit from the Prosecutor’s Office. Johnson had admitted to investigators that he provided alcohol in February for nine minors at his home and to sending the sexual text messages. Johnson and Sidwell are being held at the Kosciusko County Jail on a $5,000 bond each for their separate charges.
