On April 7, 2020, the Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office’s Sex Crimes Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Rachel Jefferson filed charges against Robert Tyson Taylor, Noblesville, following an investigation by the Noblesville Police Department.
Specifically, the State alleged one count of Child Molesting, a Level 1 felony; one count of Performing Sexual Conduct in the Presence of a Minor, a Level 6 felony; and an allegation that Taylor was a Repeat Sexual Offender, a sentencing enhancement.
The case proceeded to trial by jury on Feb. 14, 2022. Following a three-day trial, prosecuted by Sex Crimes Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Christina Gull and Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Ashley Thompson, the jury returned a verdict of guilty as to Child Molesting, but remained deadlocked as to the Level 6 felony.
The matter proceeded to a bench trial for a second phase on the Repeat Sexual Offender enhancement, and the Court found Taylor to be a Repeat Sexual Offender. Following trial, the State dismissed the deadlocked count, and the matter was set out for sentencing.
On Thursday, March 17, the Honorable Michael Casati, presiding judge of Hamilton Superior Court No. 1, pronounced sentence upon Taylor for Child Molesting and the Repeat Sexual Offender sentencing enhancement. Judge Casati imposed a total sentence of 40 years upon Taylor, all of which was ordered to be served in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Buckingham
“Today’s strong sentence is the culmination of not only the efforts of my staff – especially Deputy Prosecutors Gull, Jefferson, and Thompson – but also the teamwork and dedication of the detectives of the Noblesville Police Department,” said Hamilton County Prosecuting Attorney D. Lee Buckingham II. “Child sexual abuse is a scourge, the battle against which can only be won through the assistance of people in the community at large and also within the criminal justice system and its adjacent stakeholders, such as our local child advocacy center and our local victim services agency, Cherish and Prevail, respectively.”
Buckingham explained, “Cherish’s facility and personnel provide a safe, legally defensible means of allowing children to speak about the most uncomfortable of traumas, while Prevail serves such survivors throughout the process through a variety of victim-focused support and treatment.”