Izaguirre Sentenced For Child MolestingA Warsaw man was sent to prison for 35 years Thursday for molesting a child multiple times over the course of several years.
Jose Izaguirre, 32, was convicted of two Level 1 felony child molesting charges by a jury in April in Kosciusko Circuit Court.
He appeared Thursday in front of Circuit Court Judge Mike Reed and was sentenced to 40 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections, with five years suspended to probation, for one count of Level 1 felony child molesting, and 30 years in the IDOC for a second count of Level 1 felony child molesting.
The sentences will run concurrently, meaning at the same time, and he will be required to register a sex offender and spend five years of supervised probation with sex offender rules upon his release.
The case stems from March 29, 2019, when the 12-year-old victim told a friend at school that Izaguirre had been forcing her to have sexual intercourse and touching her inappropriately since 2016.
Izaguirre’s defense was that he did not understand the English language well enough when he was read his Miranda rights by Warsaw Police Department Det. Paul Heaton, therefore Izaguirre falsely confessed to what he was accused of, Izaguirre’s defense attorney, Jay Rigdon, told jurors.
In court Thursday, the victim’s mother said her entire family has been negatively affected by Izaguirre’s actions, saying her children are now medicated, in therapy, suicidal and run away from home.
The victim then took the stand and demanded Izaguirre look at her when she’s speaking to him.
She told him, through tears, that she has run away from home several times hoping to get hit by a car so she won’t have to live anymore. The child further said she has turned to self-harming and contemplated suicide on many occasions, including before his trial in April began so she wouldn’t have to attend.
“When people find out what happened to me, they say you came out stronger. I was a child. I didn’t need to be stronger. I needed to be protected,” she said.
Kosciusko County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Joseph Sobek said, “The victim was violated in every orpheus of her body for a lengthy period of time,” and asked Reed to sentence Izaguirre to the maximum.
Sobek argued that not only are the aggravating factors that the harm is significant, the child was less than 12 years old during one of the charges he was convicted of, he was in a position of care, but also that Izaguirre has shown no remorse or taken no responsibility and was deemed by the Kosciusko County Probation Department to be a high risk to reoffend.
Rigdon argued that his client has shown no remorse because he entered a not guilty plea and was convicted for crimes he denies by a jury.
“This is a serious offense with incredibly serious consequences for many people,” Reed said. “This was not an isolated incident of bad judgment. This was a plan perpetrated over many years.”
Reed also said he disagrees with Rigdon’s argument that his Izaguirre shouldn’t take any responsibility because he entered a not guilty plea.
“He was duly convicted,” Reed said.
Reed said Izaguirre has an ICE immigration hold on him as well.
Izaguirre said he will appeal, and Rigdon will represent him in the matter.
