CLARK CO., Ind. (WHAS11) – Michael Begin Jr., an Indiana man accused of molesting 20 girls between the ages of 3 and 8-years-old, entered a guilty plea on Jan. 25.
He entered a guilty plea to 20 felony counts of child molestation and the judge accepted the guilty plea.
"The important thing was that all 20 of the victims got justice today," Jeremy Mull, the Clark County prosecutor, said. "He is convicted of the molesting of everyone that I had charged and the judge has the ability to send him to prison for the rest of his natural life under this agreement."
Begin was arrested when he was a student at a Greater Clark County high school in October 2017.
Begin was accused of molesting girls at Thomas Jefferson Elementary and the Jeffersonville YMCA. He worked at the YMCA and was a teaching assistant at the elementary school.
He faces a sentence of 2 to 120 years in prison.
Originally, Begin faced more child molestation charges than he pleaded guilty to but part of this plea deal involved dropping seven charges.
"We reviewed the evidence, we spent lots of time with Michael and his family and we came to the decision this was the best resolution to start the healing process," Jennifer Culotta, Begin's defense attorney, said.
His sentencing is set for Thursday, March 21, at 9 a.m.
"I'm looking forward to the sentence hearing in March. I know many of the parents of the victims will be there to testify to ask the judge to impose a lengthy prison sentence," Mull said. "That's the day we can finally finish this and get the end result of justice for the victims."
WHAS11 spoke with a mother who says her daughter was one of Begin’s victims, but wanted to remain anonymous.
"It's hard, you know. Lives have been changed,” she said. "I feel like a weight has been lifted because now these girls don't have to testify in front of him. That would be hard for just these little girls to testify."
The mother said she plans to attend Begin’s sentencing hearing, but hasn’t decided yet if she will testify herself.
"The whole thing, I feel like has just kind of been a dream, like a whirlwind. I don't even know how. Mixed feelings and emotions. I'm happy that we can put it behind us, but I'm scared for what's to come from sentencing. I've just got to pray,” she said. "I'm praying that there will be justice because we don't know.”
When asked what she wants Begin to know she said, "That we will forgive him. It's hard, but I'm not going to let him steal anymore of my daughter's happiness or mine. I'm not going to worry about it anymore."
She said she hopes he faces at least 100 years in prison, adding, "I hope while he's in there, maybe others can find forgiveness in their hearts."
Even though it’s been over a year since the case began, she said she still has frustrations. She believes a teacher in the district knew about the allegations, but didn’t tell the school.
“You have a duty to the children that you teach and the school district that you're at and I don't feel like she fulfilled that duty by not letting them know that there was an investigation going on for child molestation,” the mother said. "I feel like she hid this from the school and from her employment and if she hadn't had hid it like she did, maybe not as many girls had been assaulted."
The mother said she has less trust for the school now.
“Which is sad because there's a lot of teachers there that work hard for their students and my children have had some amazing teachers through greater Clark,” she said. "I just want the school to do what's right by the children that are there. Just do what's right.”
When asked what she’d like to see change from all of this, she said, "Going forward there should be you know, when they're in this program, they shouldn't be allowed alone with children, no matter where they are. There should always be an adult present at all times monitoring what's going on, I'm not sure why there wasn't."
The mother also had a message for the community, who has supported hers and all other victims’ families throughout the case.
"Thank you for all of your thoughts and prayers. I think it helps,” she said.
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