Boy faces preliminary child molestation charge

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. (WLFI) - It all happened in the 2600 block of Soldiers Home Road in West Lafayette. West Lafayette Police Detective Fredrick Townsend said they received a call from Child Protective Services on Sept. 21 about a case of possible child molestation.

In this case, both the victim and the suspect were juveniles.

"Our suspect was a 14-year-old male and we had a victim that was under the age of 9," said Townsend. "Through our investigation, we did make an arrest."

That arrest came 13 days later on Oct. 3. Police said the incident occurred inside the victim's home. They said the girl came forward to her parents and that's when they called police.

Investigators said the boy and the girl are not related, but their families know each other. Detective Townsend said while the police department has completed their portion of the investigation, it's still far from over.

"The case has been sent over to the Tippecanoe County Prosecutor's office for a review," said Townsend. "He's being held pending charges and review with the prosecutor's office."

Detective Townsend said the boy is being held in a secure detention center outside of county limits. He said the boy has had several run-ins with police before, but none of them were of a sexual nature.