An Indiana man accused of molesting and impregnating a 10-year-old has been arrested.
Nicholas Deon Thrash, 34, was charged on May 17 with 10 counts of felony child molesting. He is being held in Grant County Jail on a $500,000 cash-only bond.
The victim’s grandmother told WISH that the family knew and liked Thrash.
“He’s not type of person that you’d think would do something like this,” she said. “We invited him into our home. He helped my husband all he could.”
The grandmother explained that the young girl, whose mother is currently in jail, is already 20 weeks pregnant.
“Now her whole life has changed,” she said. “She’s scared being this far along and having to carry this baby.”
The child’s world has been turned upside down.
“She came out and asked, ‘Can I get my Barbies?’ I said, ‘Of course you can,'” the grandmother said. “She is still a little girl that wants to play that has to grow up overnight.”
She is now demanding justice for her granddaughter.
“I hope he gets what’s coming to him,” she told WISH. “He’s got to pay for this.”
Thrash was apprehended after Crime Stoppers received a tip indicating that he was staying at a local residence.
The woman who lives in the house said she had recently started dating Thrash and did not know he was wanted by police until they arrived at her home to arrest him, according to WTHR.
Neighbors expressed horror and disgust at the crime:
“It’s just sad to see somebody do something like that to a child, so young, so little,” Dantay Smith said. “Why would you even think about doing something like that?”
“It’s crazy, especially a grown man and 10-year-old child,” Akem Williams stated. “It’s like, what’s the world coming to? What’s America coming to?”
Kaleesha Robinson described Thrash’s actions as “disgusting.”
“I couldn’t imagine having a daughter and that happen to her,” she said.
The victim’s grandmother is urging parents to have open conversations with their children about sexual assault.
“Teach your kids to have enough trust in you to come to you and say ‘This is wrong, help,'” she said.
Prevent Child Abuse Indiana Director Sandy Runkle agreed that discussing the issue with children is important. She told WISH that parents should be suspicious of any adult who enjoys spending a lot of time alone with one child, adding that abusers are known and trusted by their victims approximately 90 percent of the time.
Sassy Liberty