New Castle Man Who Exposed Himself to a 12-Year-Old Walks on Time Served After Child Solicitation Count Is Dropped

The historic Henry County Courthouse in New Castle, Indiana. Photo by Publichall via Wikimedia Commons (CC BY-SA 3.0).

The charge that carried up to six years in prison is gone. The one left standing topped out at two and a half. And by the time a Henry County judge pronounced sentence, the man who admitted exposing himself to a 12-year-old girl at a sleepover had already banked enough credit to walk out the door.

Daniel L. Miller of New Castle pleaded guilty last month to one count of sexual battery, a Level 6 felony, in Henry Circuit Court 1. In exchange, prosecutors dropped a Level 5 felony count of child solicitation, WIBC reported. He was sentenced to 1.5 years in the Indiana Department of Correction and received credit for 548 days, which made it a time-served sentence, according to court records cited by the New Castle Courier-Times. He will not go to prison. He must register as a sex offender for 10 years.

What the court file says happened

Miller was 21 when he was arrested on July 24, 2024, the Courier-Times reported. According to court documents described by WIBC, the incident happened in May 2024 during a slumber party: Miller exposed himself to the girl and asked her to perform oral sex, then offered her money to keep quiet. The Courier-Times put the amount at $40 and reported that the girl refused and told an adult, which is how police got involved. She told police Miller was “really drunk” after drinking through the night, WIBC reported.

Miller first denied it. He admitted to the acts only after failing two polygraph tests, according to the court documents WIBC reviewed. The request for oral sex was the conduct behind the child solicitation count, and that count was dismissed under the plea, so the conviction on his record is sexual battery alone.

Doing the math on the deal

Under Indiana’s sentencing statute, a Level 5 felony like child solicitation carries one to six years, with a three-year advisory sentence. A Level 6 felony like sexual battery carries six months to two and a half years, with an advisory term of one year. The Muncie Star Press noted that ceiling: 30 months. Miller’s 1.5-year sentence landed above the advisory term for the lesser charge, but well short of its maximum, and it was fully absorbed by credit he already had.

Put plainly, the plea took the more serious child-specific charge off the table, and the sentence on what remained was set at a length his credit already covered. That is the kind of arithmetic that happens every day in Indiana courtrooms, and it is exactly the kind Hoosier parents rarely get to see explained.

Questions the public is owed

The Henry County Prosecutor’s Office, led by elected Prosecutor Michael J. Mahoney, agreed to dismiss the solicitation count. None of the published reports reviewed by the Hoosier Enquirer included an explanation from the office for that decision, or for why a sentence equal to time already credited was acceptable to the state. Was the girl’s family consulted? The Indiana Constitution gives crime victims the right to confer with the prosecution. Was there an evidentiary problem with the solicitation count, or was it simply traded away to close the file? Those are fair questions for any prosecutor, and the answers belong on the record.

They are also timely. The Henry County prosecutor’s office is on the ballot this year. Christi Brock won the Republican nomination in a five-way May primary, and she said afterward that a main reason she ran was to make sure victims always have a voice, the Courier-Times reported. Henry County voters can weigh how cases like this one are handled when they decide who sits in that chair next.

Miller has been convicted only of the sexual battery count. The dismissed solicitation charge was never proven in court and remains an allegation. The Hoosier Enquirer does not identify the girl or any detail that could identify her.

A 12-year-old did the hardest thing in this case: she said no and told an adult. The registry will follow Miller for a decade. The prison cell the original charge pointed toward never will.

Written by Hoosiers, for Hoosiers.