Evansville man sentenced for child molesting, rape

March 13--An Evansville man whose child molesting case prompted a second victim to come forward will serve nearly 12 years in prison after pleading guilty to charges in both cases.

Jackie O. Byers, 66, faced numerous child molesting and rape charges in two separate cases but after two years of legal wrangling a plea deal was reached. In January, Byers pleaded guilty to a single charge in each case.

On Monday Vanderburgh Circuit Court Judge David Kiely accepted the plea agreement and sentenced Byers to 23 years and four months on each of the two charges to which he pleaded: Child molesting, a level 1 felony; and rape, a class A felony (because it occurred prior to Indiana'sJuly 2014 criminal code).

The sentences will be served concurrently, with half at the Indiana Department of Correction and half on electronic home detention. Byers also was officially designated a sexually violent predator.

"No amount of time can undo what has been done," said Deputy Prosecutor Javier Lugo. "This sentence is the first step of the healing process all the parties are going through."

Byers was arrested in the first case in December 2014 and charged with four counts of child molesting and two counts of child solicitation.

Byers was charged in that case after an investigation into allegations that he was abusing a girl that his wife -- who was not a suspect in the case -- baby-sat on a regular basis. The girl told police Byers inappropriately touched her multiple times, according to an Evansville Police Department probable cause affidavit.

A second investigation was triggered after an adult family member accused Byers of molesting her when she was a child, according to court documents. The woman contacted police a day after Byers' first court hearing in the original case.

The accuser that case reportedly told investigators at Holly's House about incidents between she and Byers that dated back about 40 years beginning when she was 6 or 7 years old. The woman told police Byers also threatened to kill her and other family members if she ever tried to tell her family.

According to the probable cause affidavit, other family members corroborated her story during the investigation.

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