Muncie sex offender strikes deal, pleads guilty to molesting boy

James Conway
James Conway

MUNCIE, Ind. — A convicted sex offender from Muncie has struck a deal with prosecutors and admitted to sexually abusing a pre-teen boy.

James Edward Conway, 51, last month signed the agreement that called for him to plead guilty to two counts of child molesting and one count of child solicitation.

He was scheduled to be sentenced by Delaware Circuit Court 3 Judge Linda Ralu Wolf on Monday, but the hearing was postponed.

Conway and his wife, Sarah Elizabeth Hull-Conway, 36, were arrested in October 2019 after they were both accused of sexually abusing a child.

According to an affidavit, James Conway acknowledged many of the juvenile's allegations, saying he and his spouse had involved the victim in their sex life in a bid to "spice things up."

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The two molesting counts Conway pleaded guilty to last month are Level 1 felonies carrying up to 40 years in prison. He also pleaded guilty to child solicitation, a Level 4 felony with a maximum 12-year sentence.

Three other related counts would be dismissed.

The plea deal specifies the length of Conway's sentences: 35 years for each of the molesting convictions, and eight years for the solicitation charge. However, it leaves up to Judge Wolf whether those sentences would be served at the same time or consecutively.

In a sentencing memo filed last week, Deputy Prosecutor Maricel Driscoll said the prison terms should be served consecutively, with Conway receiving a 78-year sentence.

Driscoll said the victim in the case had been sexually abused for several years, "not days, weeks or months, but years."

The deputy prosecutor said Conway, convicted of sexual misconduct with a minor in 2002, has "demonstrated an indifference towards the law and had repeatedly shown that he possesses very serious character defects."

The Muncie man has shown he is "beyond a shadow of a doubt... a menace to our community who seeks the vulnerable children in our society to prey on," she added.

Conway's criminal record also includes convictions for battery resulting in bodily injury, failure to register as a sex offender, nonsupport of a dependent child and possession of meth.

His bond at the Delaware County jail is set at $105,000.

Sarah Hull-Conway is scheduled to stand trial March 28 on three counts of child molesting. She continues to be held under a $50,000 bond.

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Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Muncie man strikes deal in molesting case