The courtroom was empty on a morning when a jury trial was scheduled in a child molestation case.
Instead of a jury trial, defendant Mickey Hively, 50, of Warsaw, pleaded guilty to child molesting, a Class C felony. In return for his plea the state of Indiana agreed to dismiss count one child molestation, a Class A felony. In addition Hively is to have no contact with the victim.
Huffer took the plea under advisement and ordered a pre-sentence investigation report to be filed and set the matter for Feb. 29 at 8:30 a.m.
Court started an hour after the trial was scheduled to start at 9 a.m., just minutes after 10 a.m. Hively accepted the plea deal from Kosciusko County Prosecuting Attorney Dan Hampton.
Hively, represented by attorney Robert Gevers, sat quietly in Kosciusko County Superior Court I as Judge Duane Huffer read him his rights and asked him how he pleaded. Each time Hively reluctantly said yes. When Huffer asked Hively how he pleaded to child molesting, a Class C felony, Hively took a deep breath and reluctantly let out a soft yes. The victim and her family watched from the back of the courtroom as he took responsibility for what happened nearly a year-and-a-half earlier.
Hively was accused of molesting a child under the age of 14 in November of 2010. Hively maintained his innocence until minutes before he pleaded guilty. Hampton said that it was not uncommon for a defendant to plead guilty on the day of their trial.
“During the process of both attorneys getting their cases ready for trial the defendant notices how strong the case is against him or her,” Hampton said. “It really was in the best interest of the child that Hively plead guilty.”
