Wanda English Burnett
Editor

Tobie Wilson, 36, of Osgood, will be spending the next 20 years in prison after he pled guilty to two Class B felonies involving sex offenses against underage girls.

Wilson actually received a sentence of 27 years with seven of those years suspended to probation. He will have to register as a sex offender for life.

The plea agreement was reached by Prosecuting Attorney Ric Hertel and Wilson’s attorney.

Sentencing was held last week in Ripley County Circuit Court where one of the victims, a 16-year-old, read a letter in open court. She tearfully explained how her life was forever changed because of the defendant’s actions.

Detective Tracy Rohlfing of the Indiana State Police investigated both of the crimes that Wilson pled guilty to. The detective began the investigation in April of 2010, when he was initially called to Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati where one of the victims was being treated.

“There are times that the criminal justice system does not work quickly enough to provide the needed closure for victims, especially with this sort of crime,” noted Prosecutor Hertel. That was not the case here. He said that the guilty plea and sentencing should provide some sense of closure in trying to move forward in this particular case. Both the prosecutor and Det. Rohlfing agreed the victims’ lives were changed forever as a result of Wilson’s actions. They agreed, “The pieces of these girls’ lives will have to be slowly put back together, but the scars will always be there.”

Officials from the Indiana State Police along with the Ripley County Prosecutor’s Office said they enjoyed a close working relationship with Children’s Hospital in Cincinnati in this case. “Without the doctors, nurses and social worker’s efforts at that institution, many criminal acts would be unpunished,” concluded Prosecutor Hertel.