Elwood man sentenced to 36 years for sex crimes involving 3-year-old
May 14—ANDERSON — An Elwood man was sentenced to 36 years in the Department of Correction for admittedly having incest contact with a 3-year-old and sharing videos and pictures of the child on the social media website Kik.
Of the 36 years, 35 years will be executed at the Department of Correction followed by one year of supervised probation, and Jeremy A. Bartlow, 32, must register as a sex offender for the rest of his life.
Madison Circuit Court 6 Judge Mark Dudley accepted a plea agreement on 10 felony charges, including molestation, child exploitation, incest possession of child pornography and neglect of a dependent.
Bartlow was arrested in August 2020 by the Elwood Police Department following an FBI investigation after he shared a video of himself with a 3-year-old on Kik.
Dudley told Bartlow he was self-centered and that is what led up to his crimes against the child.
"You are selfish," Dudley said. "Your utter selfishness is what caused you to do this act and to cause damage to an entire family. Damage that will last at a minimum, a lifetime."
Dudley's assessment came after Bartlow questioned why he committed the crimes because they disgusted him.
"What I have done is wrong in more ways than one," Bartlow said. "What I have done sickens me, it hurts me. It hurts my heart that I done this (to the victim.)"
Tears streamed down Bartlow's face as he spoke to the court, and he wiped them away with the front of his jail uniform. He apologized to the victim and for putting the child in danger.
"The root cause of it is your selfishness," Dudley said. "If you are looking for an answer, that's my answer for why you did it. You said you didn't know. It's selfishness."
Deputy Prosecutor Peter Beyel asked Bartlow exactly how many videos and pictures of the child were shared on the social website because they would forever remain online despite any sentence Bartlow served.
Bartlow said it was only two videos and two pictures listed in the probable cause for his arrest.
"How long did you look at the child pornography before you started touching (the victim)?" Beyel asked Bartlow during the sentence hearing.
Bartlow told him about a year or less. Dudley then proceeded to sentence Bartlow for his crimes.
"My sentence reflects that assessment that your selfishness led to this crime," Dudley said. "The other aspect of this sentence is I don't want to supervise you in the community for any lengthy time. That doesn't serve any purpose."
Bartlow was previously convicted in Grant County in October 2012 for Class C felony sexual misconduct with a minor.
Similar to court proceedings on Friday, Bartlow entered a plea agreement in March 2013 on the Grant County charges and was sentenced to five years in jail, with three years considered executed and two years of probation. He also was ordered into sex offender counseling and to have no unsupervised contact with children younger than 18.
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