LOS ANGELES (AP): An Indiana man facing weapons and ammunitions charges in California after telling officers he was headed to a gay pride event now faces charges in Indiana for allegedly molesting a girl.
Prosecutors in southern Indiana’s Clark County charged 20-year-old James Wesley Howell with one count of child molesting Wednesday.
Prosecutor Jeremy Mull tells The Associated Press that Howell took a 12-year-old girl to a state forestry property May 31 and had sex with her. Mull says Howell met the girl through an adult friend.
He says a police detective in that case interviewed Howell on June 7.
Mull says it’s a “logical conclusion” that Howell traveled to California to flee the child molestation investigation. He says he intends to eventually have Howell extradited to Indiana.
A message left for Howell family lawyer Bobby Boyd of Louisville, Kentucky, seeking comment on the allegations wasn’t immediately returned.