According to the Hendricks County Prosecutor’s Office, Ryan McLaughlin will spend more than 184 years behind bars for repeatedly molesting a 5-year-old girl.
HENDRICKS COUNTY, Ind. — A convicted, repeat child molester will spend the rest of his life in prison, according to the Hendricks County Prosecutor’s Office.
Ryan McLaughlin received a 184-and-a-half-year prison sentence for the repeated molestation of a 5-year-old girl under his care. According to online court records, the case was filed in 2024.
According to the prosecutor’s office, McLaughlin was already a convicted sex offender but still moved into a home with children and lied to authorities about any children living there.
The prosecutor’s office said he abused the child repeatedly over months and threatened to kill her mother if she did not comply.
The Court found several aggravated circumstances at sentencing, the prosecutor’s office said, including McLaughlin’s criminal history, his position of trust over the victim, the “severe emotional harm” inflicted upon the victim and his threats to kill the victim’s mother.
In a social media post about the case, Hendricks County Prosecutor Loren Delp advocated for the return of the death penalty or life in prison without parole for aggravated child molesting.
“Repeat sexual offenders who prey upon children are among the most dangerous criminals in our society. McLaughlin had already been convicted of a sex offense, yet he found another vulnerable child and repeatedly victimized her,” Delp said. “While it is too late for this case, I would welcome the reintroduction and passage of Rep. Andrew Ireland’s House Bill 1312 next session.”
“Making the death penalty or life imprisonment without parole available for aggravated child molesting would be a significant advancement toward justice and challenging the U.S. Supreme Court precedent in Kennedy v. Louisiana,” Delp continued. “Those who commit the most horrific sexual crimes against children should face the most serious punishment the law allows.”
The Hendricks County Sheriff’s Office and Susie’s Place Child Advocacy Centers helped throughout the investigation and legal proceedings, the prosecutor’s office said.
