Continuously serving Kosciusko County since 1854
A Michigan man will serve 20 years in prison for molesting a child in Warsaw.
Joseph A. Sarber, 39, Kalamazoo, Mich., was sentenced on two counts of child molesting, basic child molesting offense, a level 3 felony. Another child molesting charge was dismissed as part of the plea agreement.
Sarber was sentenced in Kosciusko Superior Court I on Wednesday, July 29.
Kosciusko Superior Court I Judge Karin McGrath sentenced Sarber to 15 years for the first charge of child molestation and 15 years for the second charge. Sarber will have to serve 15 years on the first charge, and only five years on the second with 10 years on probation. These terms are to be served consecutively; 20 years in prison, followed by 10 years on probation.
Additionally, due to a new Indiana Law, sexually violent predators, like Sarber, are now placed on a lifetime parole.
Defense Attorney Nicholas Jacobs said, on behalf of Sarber, there were an additional nine days he was detained in Ingham County Jail in Mason, Mich., before he was transferred to the Kosciusko County Jail. McGrath tentatively accepted these additional nine days into Sarber’s jail time credit, pending an investigation.
Jacobs told the court Sarber had made efforts to improve himself and was a different man than he was when he committed the crime.
McGrath addressed Sarber, saying “Mr. Sarber, your lawyer says you have changed … I hope that’s true. I hope you have grown and are a better person. Unfortunately, the damage done to this victim does not go away. I can only hope the victim is getting the help they need …”
After sentencing, McGrath voiced that she found the aggravating factor that the victim was in the “care, custody and control” of Sarber during this offense particularly troubling. She said he “violate(d) that trust in such an egregious way.”
McGrath also said she saw no mitigating factors. Additionally, she said Sarber would be required to complete a program for sexual maladaptive behavior.
Affidavit of Probable Cause
According to court documents, on June 4, 2024, a representative from Indiana Department of Child Services reported a child molestation case to the Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office. The victim reported being molested by Sarber in Kosciusko County. The victim was referred to Safe Harbor Child Advocacy Center.
On June 10, 2024, a Safe Harbor employee reported the victim said Sarber started touching them in a sexual manner when they were 8 or 9 years old.
The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Office detective assigned to the case then learned Sarber was convicted possession of child sexual assault or exploitation material. The Federal Bureau of Investigation located the material on devices Sarber owned.
Federal investigators also located conversations between Sarber and another internet user where Sarber described molesting a child, starting when the victim was around 9 years old.
The KCSO detective handling the case went to see Sarber in federal prison in Pennsylvania where he was serving his child pornography sentence. Sarber denied inappropriately touching the child and said the conversations about the child in the online chat group were him fantasizing about molesting the child.
Sarber was booked in the Kosciusko County Jail on May 2, 2025.
