Man gets 16 years after impregnating 12-year-old
Apr. 4—TIPTON — A man who impregnated a 12-year-old girl in 2021 was sentenced to 16 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
Steven I. Castillo, 30, was originally arrested in December 2021 on charges of child molest as a level 3 felony and child molest as a level 4 felony, according to court documents.
However, per terms of his plea agreement, Castillo pled guilty to a lesser included charge of child molest, while the second offense was subsequently dismissed.
Castillo's sentencing stems from an investigation that began Dec. 13, 2021, when deputies were called to IU Health Tipton in reference to a child molest complaint, according to a Tipton County Sheriff's Department media release.
Hospital officials at the time said they were reportedly treating a 12-year-old for severe back pain, and a further examination reportedly revealed the child was pregnant and going into labor, court records noted.
Family members and a family friend were present at the hospital with the girl, authorities stated, and she was ultimately transferred to Riley Children's Hospital.
The next day, the girl reportedly gave birth to a healthy baby boy.
Further investigation into the case led authorities to Castillo, after the 12-year-old reportedly told police Castillo sexually assaulted her and told her not to tell her mother, court documents stated.
After Monday's sentencing hearing, several members of the girl's family spoke with the media, telling Indianapolis news station Fox59 that Castillo's sentence was not long enough.
"That's not closure," Dakota Bunch, the girl's aunt, told Fox59. "Sixteen years is nothing for a lifetime of trauma that she's going to endure now. That's not closure. ... Another 16 years, and then he's going to be back out on the street doing God knows what else to who else."
