Lake Superior Court Judge Clarence Murray sentenced a Hobart man to 10 years in prison on Friday for child molesting and robbery.
Murray told Kelly Rushing Jr., that he would have to serve six years in prison, followed by four years on probation. The judge noted that Rushing, 21, was on probation in Porter County on a theft case when he committed the two crimes in 2012, and found several factors that supported an aggravated sentence of five years on each charge, served consecutively, including that the fact the robbery victim was a senior citizen and because of Rushing’s extensive criminal record despite his young age.
Defense attorney Joseph Curosh III argued that his client was the product of a dysfunctional home in his formative years. Curosh presented testimony from Rushing’s father, who has serious health issues and noted he’s seen a change in his son’s attitude in the last several months of his time spent in the Lake County Jail.
Deputy prosecutor Judy Massa said Rushing has already benefited from a plea agreement that bumped two Class B felonies down to Class C felonies, which are punishable by two to eight years. Massa said she wasn’t aware of Rushing’s extensive juvenile record until she reviewed a pre-sentence investigation report. “He’s basically been terrorizing the community for the last seven years of his life,” she said, citing crimes that include arson, violent crimes and property damage.
Rushing admitted he engaged in a three-way sexual encounter with a 13-year-old girl and her boyfriend on Dec. 9, 2012, at a residence in Hobart.
Rushing also admitted he knocked down a 71-year-old woman and took her purse as she was leaving the Lake Park Restaurant on Old Ridge Road in Hobart two days after the child molesting. The woman, who was traumatized by the incident, was bruises but suffered no permanent injuries, Massa said.
