A former local youth mentor who has been convicted of child molesting has just been sentenced.
28-year-old Nathan Albrecht of Ferdinand was convicted on two counts of child molesting on September 3rd, 2020.
He has now been sentenced to 30 years in the Indiana Department of Correction.
The charges in the case and subsequent conviction stem from an investigation that began on August 20, 2019. At that time, Officer Christian Gogel, of the Ferdinand Police Department, met with the mother of the victim, who had filed a report alleging the ongoing child molestation of her child by Albrecht for a period of 6-9 months. The victim’s mother told officers that her child was involved in a group called “Mentors for Youth” and that Albrecht had been the victim’s mentor for the previous two years.
A forensic interview was conducted by The Southwest Indiana Child Advocacy Center in Jasper on August 22, 2019. Forensic interviews are done by professionals trained in interviewing child victims in cases alleging child sexual or other abuse. During that interview, the victim confirmed Albrecht had abused the victim on more than one occasion. The victim also reported to forensic interviewers that the abuse began toward the end of the last school year and continued through up to two weeks before his mother notified police.
On August 23rd, 2019, Albrecht was placed under arrest and charged with child molestation and child seduction at that time.
The jury trial, the first in Dubois County since the COVID-19 pandemic, was held over two days. Albrecht was convicted of 2 counts of Child Molestation as Level 1 Felonies and 1 count of Performance Harmful to a Minor as a Level 6 felony.
Albrecht will have to serve at least 85% of that sentence before he would be eligible for release.
