An Alabama man who previously lived in Johnson County was sentenced on Friday for child molesting.
Mark LaPlante, 51, of Grant, Alabama, was sentenced to 30 years in jail and five years of probation. He will also need to register as a sexual offender.
LaPlante had already been convicted on two charges of child molestation.
According to a notice from the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office, the investigation into LaPlante began in February 2022, following a claim that he sexually molested a kid between 2019 and 2022. However, at the time, no charges were filed.
In late 2022, a new deputy prosecutor officially prosecuted LaPlante with child molestation. The trial began on January 15 and ended the next day, after the jury deliberated for 14 minutes.
The sentencing hearing occurred on March 7. At the hearing, the victim stated that LaPlante had committed these actions in Alabama, as well as those in Franklin, Indiana.
According to the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office, the judge determined that the “key aggravating factor” in his punishment was his abuse of trust with an “already vulnerable child.”
“This man is a monster,” Johnson County prosecutor Lance Hamner said. “He put an innocent, defenseless child through hell for years. Years. I greatly appreciate the diligent work of the Franklin police and my deputy prosecutors in winning this conviction. They have ensured that this individual will spend most of the rest of his miserable life in an 8′ X 10′ cage. You can’t hurt children from inside a steel cage.”
