Former Edgewood police officer to serve 18 months on home detention

May 17—ANDERSON — A former Edgewood police officer has been ordered to serve 18 months on in-home detention for violating terms of his probation.

James D. Foutch, 48, admitted in Madison Circuit Court 4 that he spoke with his wife and violated a no-contact order after he was charged with Level 6 felony domestic battery committed in the presence of a child.

On Monday, Madison Circuit Court 4 Judge David A. Happe said Foutch's behavior was "troubling" coming from someone who once took an oath to uphold the law.

Happe said Foutch was willing to violate the protective order and used coded and deception language to hide his conversations from law enforcement monitoring his phone calls at the Madison County Jail. Foutch and his wife were talking to each other to make sure their stories matched on the domestic battery charges.

Foutch served 3 1/2 years of an 11-year sentence after pleading guilty to felony counts of reckless homicide and criminal recklessness inflicting serious bodily injuries in 2015.

On April 6, 2014, Foutch, then 41, was off duty and driving a Yukon SUV about 92 mph when he crashed into the rear of a car carrying Jesse Sperry and his pregnant wife, Rebecca Sperry, on Indiana 32.

Jesse Sperry died in the accident and his wife gave birth to a daughter, Autumn, later that day.

Foutch was placed on work release in October 2018 and he told Happe on Monday that he is the primary source of income for his family.

On April 4, Foutch's wife called dispatch stating her husband had grabbed a 1-year-old child from her and pushed her against a changing table, causing pain.

She said Foutch has a gun and alleged he had been using methamphetamine all weekend. On Monday, Foutch's wife recanted her story and witnesses testified that Foutch's wife lies when she gets upset.

Foutch's wife, who remained in the courtroom after testifying at the hearing on probation violations, fell to her knees sobbing uncontrollably when Happe ordered Foutch to serve in-home detention.

Happe also said he would not drop the no-contact order between the couple at this time or modify the order so they could have contact in public places. Happe did say that Foutch could have contact with his children.

After Happe left the courtroom, Foutch mouthed the words "I love you," to his wife who returned the endearment.

Follow Traci L. Miller @_TraciMiller on Twitter, email her at traci.miller@heraldbulletin.com, or call her at 765-640-4805.