NEWS

Plea deal calls for 40-year sentence

Douglas Walker

MUNCIE – A convicted sex offender will be sentenced to 40 years in prison if a Delaware County judge accepts the terms of a plea agreement.

Christopher Robert Peterson, 36, was arrested in February 2013 after he was accused of repeatedly sexually abusing a girl under the age of 10.

The alleged victim told investigators that Peterson, a friend of her mother's, had forced her to engage in various sex acts over a two-year period.

Peterson — who told police he had been convicted of a sex crime in New York — allegedly acknowledged he had molested the girl at least 20 times, and "admitted fondling the victim and teaching the victim to fondle him."

In Delaware Circuit Court 2 last week, Peterson pleaded guilty to child molesting, a Class A felony carrying a standard 30-year sentence.

Peterson's deal with the state, however, calls for him to receive a 40-year sentence. Three other molesting charges and a count of child exploitation would be dismissed.

The agreement also calls for the Muncie man to be sentenced as a credit restricted felon, receiving one day of "good behavior" credit every six days he serves in prison. Many felons in Hoosier prisons receive a day of credit for each day they spend behind bars.

Judge Kimberly Dowling took the deal under advisement and tentatively set a sentencing hearing for Oct. 6.

Contact news reporter Douglas Walker at (765) 213-5851. You can also follow him on Twitter @DouglasWalkerSP.