When a Worthington man arrested and charged with sexual misconduct with a minor in 2019 appeared in court last week, he changed his plea to guilty and was sentenced. He’ll be serving his time on home detention.

Terry L. Scales, 56 at the time of his arrest in December of 2019, Worthington, was accused of inappropriate and unwanted sexual contact with a juvenile who was visiting his home in October of 2019.

At that time, Worthington Town Marshal Jim O’Malley was a detective at the Greene County Sheriff’s Department and the lead investigator into the accusations.

After the findings from the investigation were submitted to the Greene County Prosecutor’s Office, a criminal case was filed against Scales and a warrant issued for his arrest.

He was taken into custody by GCSD Deputy Harvey Holt on December 5, 2019. His bond was set at $10,000 surety with ten percent cash allowed. He posted $1,000 and was released later the same day.

Scales appeared before Judge Erik Allen in Greene Circuit Court on December 18, 2019, and was charged with sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 5 felony.

The case has been progressing through the court system, with a few continuances due to the pandemic.

Last September, 2020, Scales entered into a negotiated plea agreement along with his defense attorney, Greene County Deputy Public Defender Ellen Martin, and Greene County Prosecutor Jarrod Holtsclaw.

Last Wednesday, during a change of plea and sentencing hearing, Scales admitted guilt.

Sentencing in this case was not left up to the judge’s discretion. The terms of the sentence were fixed by the negotiated plea agreement and the court was bound by its terms.

Scales was sentenced to three years in the Indiana Department of Corrections but he’s going to be allowed to serve his time on home detention as long as he remains eligible for the program.

Of those three years, one year was suspended and he was given credit for one day already served, so he’s got two years to serve on home detention, with a GPS monitoring device.

After his time is served, he’ll be on supervised probation for one year.

He was also ordered to have no contact with the victim.

Scales will also be required to register as a sex offender on the Indiana Sex and Violent Offenders List.