A Jasonville man, arrested last Thursday by the Jasonville Police Chief, is being held in the Greene County Jail in lieu of a $95,000 bond. He’s accused of two counts of child molestation and one count of rape.

Zachery Earl Passen, 41, of Jasonville, was arrested last Thursday, July 23, by Jasonville Police Chief Ryan Van Horn.

When Passen was booked into the Greene County Jail at 1:18 p.m. on a preliminary charge of one count of child molesting, a Level 1 felony, his bond was set at $40,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. The amount of his bond has since changed.

After Officer Van Horn’s report reached the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office, a criminal case was filed in Greene Superior Court early today, Tuesday, July 28, with two additional counts.

Passen is now facing preliminary charges of:

Two counts of child molesting, both are Level 1 felonies, and
Rape, a Level 3 felony.

Passen’s bond has been increased to $95,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed.

Officer Van Horn responded around 7 a.m. Thursday to a residence in Jasonville after the sheriff’s department received a call from someone who requested an officer.

When Van Horn arrived, two women and Passen were standing in the front yard. The two women advised him a sexual encounter had occurred between Passen and a 12-year-old child earlier that morning at a different location - Passen’s residence on Sycamore Street in Jasonville.

Van Horn said that without any prompting, Passen told him that he “did it.”

During the course of this investigation, Van Horn learned the incident had taken place in the living room and that Passen had a surveillance system set up in the house, with a camera in the living room, and the incident was allegedly caught on video.

Around noon, a search warrant was executed on Passen’s residence. Photographs were taken and bedding was collected along with Passen’s cell phone and a DNA sample. In addition, the home surveillance system was seized as evidence.

Van Horn said officers were able to export the video footage from Passen’s surveillance system and it shows the entire incident that started at 5 a.m.

In a probable cause affidavit prepared by Van Horn, he wrote that he was confident in determining that the individual in the video is in fact Zachery Passen.

Several individuals including family members were interviewed. On that morning, Passen had allegedly admitted guilt to more than one of the individuals interviewed.

A forensic interview of the alleged victim was conducted at Susie’s Place in Bloomington and according to Van Horn’s affidavit, the child was able to understand and describe what occurred in detail.

Van Horn states, “After reviewing the interview with Victim 1 at Susie’s Place, I found that Victim 1’s statement is consistent with the video footage obtained from Zachery’s surveillance system.”

Van Horn’s affidavit details an incident that involved oral sex and intercourse with the alleged victim, that Passen removed the child’s clothing and when the child tried pulling clothing back on, he pulled the clothing back off, and that the victim told him to stop but he did not stop.

The date for Passen’s initial hearing has not been set. As of mid-afternoon, Tuesday, he had not posted bond.