Published: November 13, 2009 12:52 am      

Granger guilty on all counts for child molestation, seduction

Verdict returned in just over three hours

JEFFERSONVILLE — A Clark County jury on Thursday convicted 33-year-old Sheila Granger, of Henryville, of nine felonies related to molesting two 12-year-old boys from August 2007 to August 2008.

“I think it was a fair and just verdict,” Deputy Prosecutor Brittany Blau said.

As Granger was escorted in handcuffs to the jail, she told weeping family members she loved them. When asked if he had any comments after the verdict was read, her attorney, Thomas Hectus, said, “No, it’s just wrong.”

After three and a half days of testimony, it took the jury a little more than three hours to reach a verdict of guilty on five counts of class A felony child molesting, three counts of class C felony child molesting and one count of class D felony child solicitation.

The final day of trial began with prosecutors drilling Granger about her relationship with the two boys.

She continued to deny any inappropriate touching or sex with either child, but she said she could not explain why they would make up such allegations. She said she had treated the boys like her own children.

The prosecution argued the relationship went well beyond that of a mother and child.

“(One of the victims) fell in love with you, and his father figure was your husband. That’s sad, isn’t it?” Deputy Prosecutor Bill Grimes said to Granger.

“Yeah, I guess it is,” Granger replied.

Grimes and Blau both said that a key point in the case was a pregnancy test which the prosecution argues proves Granger lied.

Granger kept two positive pregnancy tests in her house. She claimed they were kept from when she became pregnant with her two teenage daughters.

However, Grimes noted during his cross-examination of Granger that one of the positive pregnancy tests came out of a box that had a manufacturing date of 2006. Granger said she had no other pregnancy tests at her house besides the ones for her daughters.

“She is straight up caught in a lie on this,” Grimes said after the hearing. “We proved beyond a reasonable doubt that she was having an affair.”

Her husband, Phil, had a vasectomy after the birth of their second daughter.

Granger’s attorney, Thomas Hectus, called Phil to testify after his wife. Grimes said he has never heard of a case in which someone testified after a defendant in a trial.

Grimes believes the reason is because Granger did not want her husband to hear about the pregnancy test. Grimes asked Phil if he would be surprised to know the pregnancy test supposedly from his daughter was manufactured in 2006.

“Yes, I would,” Phil replied.

However, he insisted he had never witnessed any inappropriate behavior between his wife and any children. One boy said Phil had walked in on them twice while they were having sexual intercourse.

“I would not take the chance of perjuring myself on this stand and losing my daughters,” Phil said.

Between the two of them, the boys knew intimidate details about Granger. They knew she had tattoos and nipple piercings and that she shaved her private areas and used a NuvaRing as birth control.

The defense attempted to explain how the boys could have gained knowledge of those things. They said she was open with her daughter and other friends about those things.

The defense could not explain how one of the boys, who claimed he digitally penetrated the woman, said he felt a scar inside of her. Granger admitted having an episiotomy, a surgical incision made during childbirth. Her husband testified that there is no scar that could be felt.

During closing arguments, Blau asked the jury to look at a photograph of one boy before the alleged molestation and then to remember how he looked while testifying with his head hanging and hair over his eyes. Hectus interpreted his demeanor differently.

“Was his head hanging? Yes, his head was hanging. That’s what people do when they lie,” Hectus said.

Throughout the trial, the defense tried to portray the victims as liars.

“They don’t want you to hear everything those kids said because it’s inconsistent,” Hectus said.

He argued that they had collaborated on their stories. He said one boy came forward with the allegations, and the other came forward less than an hour later. He said they changed their stories from initially saying Granger only touched them to saying they had intercourse and oral sex. One victim testified he had sex with her 100 times.

“I’m not saying what the motive is except that (the first boy to come forward) must have been angry when he was told he couldn’t go to (Granger’s) House anymore,” Hectus said when explaining why the children would make up allegations.

As for the second boy, Hectus quoted his mother saying the two boys “always cover for each other.”

Blau said she would have been more concerned if the children gave the exact same stories verbatim each time. She said it is normal for children to change their stories slightly and give more details as time goes on.

Blau said less than one percent of her child molesting cases involve female suspects, but she says Granger acted like a typical child molester.

“This woman made them feel special, gave them tons of time, tons of attention … and bought them expensive gifts,” Blau said.

School officials even testified last week that they had noticed Granger, who sometimes volunteered at the schools, inappropriately close to one of the victims and was rubbing his shoulder on another occasion.

Blau said she has passed along information to other counties where more charges could possibly be filed against Granger. The boys alleged having sex with her in other counties besides Clark.

One mystery that remains is whether Granger was pregnant by one of the boys. Blau said evidence indicated she had a positive pregnancy test in 2008, and both victims said Granger showed them a pregnancy test and said she was pregnant with their child. Both said Granger told them she would have an abortion.

Family members on both sides left without commenting.

Due to scheduling conflicts, a sentencing date has not been set.

If all counts ran consecutively, Granger could face as many as 277 years in prison.

More likely, Blau said, Judge Vicki Carmichael will sentence Granger on two class A felonies for two victims. She would then face 40 to 100 years.