Modified sentenced granted for woman who admitted to have sex with a minor
May 23—ANDERSON — Four years after a woman was sentenced to 10 years in prison for having sex with a minor, her sentence was modified.
Elizabeth Ann Raison, 54, admitted in a plea agreement to having sex with 15-year-old boy in 2015 and again in 2016.
Madison Circuit Court Judge Thomas Newman Jr. sentenced Raison to concurrent 10-year sentences on two Level 4 felony counts of sexual misconduct with a minor and a Level 6 felony charge of sexual misconduct with a minor in 2017.
Newman has since retired from the judicial bench and Madison Circuit Court Judge Mark Dudley agreed to modify Raison's sentence during a hearing on Friday.
Raison's remaining sentence was modified to probation only, but she will have to complete sex offender requirements and have no contact with her victim.
"I don't know what happened back in 2017, I did review the file, but I still don't know exactly what happened," Dudley said during the hearing. "I did not listen to the sentencing hearing, I did not think it was my right to do that so I didn't. I understand the nature of the offense that occurred.
"I'm a simplistic kind of guy — without knowing any more than I do, the original crime cried out for the advisory sentence."
Dudley said there were no aggravating factors that he is aware of that would result in Raison being sentenced to the maximum time allowed under her plea agreement. Dudley said it was Raison's first offense and while it did require a prison sentence, the advisory sentence of six years was appropriate and with good time credit she would have been released in August 2021.
"We are not quite there, but pretty darn close," Dudley said in the hearing.
Before her sentence was modified, Raison read a statement at the hearing.
"I never thought in a million years I would have made so many wrong choices in my life that would end up hurting my victim's family and those close to me," she said. "My mistakes and errors in judgement have caused incredible pain and suffering to so many and I truly want to express that I carry no malice or ill-intent."
Dudley asked court officials if the victim had been notified about the modification hearing and Madison County Deputy Prosecutor John McKay said the victim was notified and the victim felt it was a little too soon for Raison's release, but had an "open mind" regarding the modification.
The probable cause affidavit in the case stated Raison had sexual intercourse with the then 15-year-old in April 2015 at a Pendleton residence and again in January 2016 at an Anderson residence.
The teenager told police that Raison sent him several text messages after the 2015 incident, including a nude photograph in the bath tub.
Reportedly Raison told the boy following the 2016 incident that "he had better never tell anyone what they had done because she did not want to end up in the news."
Raison is a former licensed practical nurse whose application for a state renewal was denied by the Indiana State Board of Nursing following her incarceration.
Follow Traci L. Miller @_TraciMiller on Twitter, email her at traci.miller@heraldbulletin.com, or call her at 765-640-4805.
