LAFAYETTE, Ind. — A northwest Indiana man has been sentenced to 90 years in prison after pleading guilty to beating and sexually assaulting a 9-year-old girl who police officers found locked in his basement.
Under the sentence James Brian Chadwell II of Lafayette received Thursday, he must serve 71 years of the 90-year term before he is eligible for release, the Journal & Courier reported.
Chadwell, 42, pleaded guilty in October to attempted murder, child molesting, kidnapping, battery and other charges in the April attack on the girl.
“Everyone is afraid what monster might be living next door, and it turns out to be you,” Tippecanoe County Superior Court Judge Steven Meyer said before sentencing Chadwell.
Prosecutors said Chadwell lured the girl into his house, where he beat and sexually assaulted her.
The girl’s parents reported her missing on the evening of April 19 after she had not been seen for about 30 minutes.
Officers knocked on Chadwell’s door, prompting him to stop his sexual assault on the girl, quickly dress and answer the door, according to a probable cause affidavit.
Police later returned to Chadwell’s house and he let officers inside to search. The girl was hospitalized after officers her bloody, beaten and naked in the home’s basement.
“She was only 9. That sparkle in her eyes, it’s gone,’” Meyer said, reading a portion of a letter from the girl’s grandmother to the court.
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