Ex-Delaware County resident, DOC official sentenced for molesting
ANDERSON, Ind. — A former Delaware County resident who became the director of technology for the Indiana Department of Correction has been sentenced to more than three years in prison for sexually abusing a child.
Thomas W. Francum, 55 — formerly of Daleville and more recently of Pendleton and Fishers — was found guilty of child molesting, a Class C felony carrying up to eight years in prison, by a Madison Circuit Court 3 jury in April.
On Thursday, he was sentenced to 1,217 days in prison — three years and three months — by Judge Andrew Hopper.
Francum was accused of assaulting a child in a home he leased from the DOC on the grounds of the Pendleton Correctional Facility. According to an Indiana State Police press release, the abuse took place from 2010 to 2016.
ISP detectives from the Pendleton post began an investigation in August 2019 after being made aware of the allegations by Randolph County sheriff's deputies. Francum was placed on unpaid suspension at that time, according to the release.
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According to court documents, Francum denied allegations made by a pre-teen boy, and suggested the child had been encouraged to lie by a member of the accuser's family.
Francum graduated from Shenandoah High School and had earlier attended Muncie schools.
Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.
This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Former Daleville man, ex-DOC official, sentenced for molesting
