Muncie woman follows husband to prison for molesting convictions
MUNCIE, Ind. — A Muncie woman this week followed her husband into the Indiana prison system after pleading guilty to charges stemming from their sexual abuse of children.
Ashley Lahrman, 24, was sentenced Tuesday to 32 years in prison by Delaware Circuit Court 5 Judge Thomas Cannon Jr., who accepted a plea agreement that specified the length of her prison term.
Lahrman pleaded guilty in September to five felony charges — including child molesting, child seduction, child solicitation and possession of child pornography — as part of a deal that saw five other counts dismissed.
The molesting count the Muncie woman pleaded guilty to was a Level 1 felony carrying up to 40 years in prison.
Lahrman and her husband, 32-year-old Joshua Layne Lahrman, were arrested by city police in December 2020.
Joshua Lahrman — convicted of incest in Allen County in 2015 — was accused of engaging in sex acts with a pre-teen girl, with that criminal activity taking place in Muncie in 2020.
More:Ex-Muncie man gets 40 years for sexually abusing child
Ashley Lahrman admitted recording her husband's crimes with a cellphone, and she also engaged in sex acts with both the female victim and that girl's pre-teen brother.
Joshua Lahrman last March pleaded guilty to child molesting, child seduction, child exploitation and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was sentenced to 30 years in prison by Cannon and is now incarcerated at the Pendleton Correctional Facility, with a projected release date in 2047.
The length of his sentence was also specified in the terms of a plea bargain.
A Muncie police detective reported that Joshua Lahrman maintained the assaults were his wife's idea, and "that he did them and let them happen to make Ashley happy."
With the length of her sentence determined, Tuesday's sentencing hearing included no comments from Ashley Lahrman, and little commentary from either defense attorney Ana Quirk Hunter or Deputy Prosecutor Doug Mawhorr.
Judge Cannon said Lahrman would be required to register as a sex offender, upon her release from prison, for the remainder of her life. The judge also said she would be classified as both a sexually violent predator and an offender against children.
She received credit for 735 days already spent in the Delaware County jail.
Ashley Lahrman sued her husband for divorce, also in Cannon's court, on Nov. 23. A final hearing in that case is set for Jan. 20.
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: Muncie woman gets 32 years for sexually abusing children
