Not Guilty Verdict In Child Molestation Case

A Moores Hill man is now free after a Dearborn County jury acquitted him of all seven counts of child molestation.

Dearborn County Superior Court II courtroom. File photo.

(Dearborn County, Ind.) - A Dearborn County jury has found a man accused of child molesting not guilty.

Adam Potraffke, 53, of Moores Hill, was charged and arrested in 2017 when allegations arose that he molested a child multiple times over the course of about six years.

He took his case to trial last week. It concluded Friday with the jury acquitting him on all seven counts.

Two of the counts were class A felonies, each punishable by 20 to 50 years in prison. Now, Potraffke is a free man.

Potraffke’s attorney, Gary Sorge, has not responded to requests for comment.

Dearborn-Ohio County Prosecutor Lynn Deddens said the case came down to the word of the victim against the word of Potraffke. She hopes the outcome of the case does not discourage victims of sexual crimes from reporting them.

Below is Deddens’ full statement on the case:

“I respect the verdict the jurors returned in this case.  They listened attentively to an extremely difficult case…a case that involved a young teenager who stated that she was molested by her step father over a period of time when she was between the ages of five and ten years old.  This brave, young lady made the disclosure to law enforcement when she was fifteen years old and testified now at the age of seventeen.  As a Prosecutor, child molesting cases, rape cases and other sexual charges are very difficult to prove because the criminal act typically occurs in the presence of only two people, the perpetrator and the victim.  To further complicate a prosecution, physical evidence is rarely left behind.  In this very CSI world that we live in, a case such as this comes down to the word of the victim against the word of the defendant. Nonetheless, my office believed in what this young lady reported to law enforcement, but the jurors felt that the evidence was not there to convict him.  While this verdict is not what we were seeking, I sincerely hope that it does not discourage victims of sexual crimes from reporting their victimization to the police.”

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