Two Sentenced on Battery Charges

Two offenders were sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning on battery charges in two separate cases.

Scott Tharpe, 35, of Plymouth, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a felony charge of battery of a person less than the age of 14. Tharpe admitted to Judge Kim Hall that on July 12, 2016, at a residence in Knox he threw his nephew on the ground and pushed his face in the dirt. He also pleaded guilty in a plea agreement with the state to a misdemeanor charge of resisting law enforcement. Tharpe admitted to resisting arrest from Officer Clint Norem in the same incident.

Tharpe was sentenced to 18 months in the Starke County Justice Center with no part of the sentence suspended on the battery charge and six months in the Starke County Justice Center with no part of the sentence suspended on the charge of resisting law enforcement. Those two sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time. With good time credit noted, Tharpe was found to have served this time. He will remain in the Starke County Jail until a child support hearing on Tuesday and will soon face a trespassing charge in Marshall County.

Anthony Milton, 20, of Plymouth, will serve four years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with one year suspended to be served on probation on a charge of battery resulting in bodily injury to a pregnant woman. Milton pleaded guilty to that felony charge in a plea agreement with the state in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning along with a felony charge residential entry on which he was sentenced to 18 months in the Indiana Department of Corrections with no part of the sentence suspended. The two sentences will be served concurrently.

Milton admitted to kicking a woman in the stomach in an altercation knowing that she was pregnant. His intoxicated action on March 10, 2017, caused bodily injury and bleeding to the expectant mother. He also admitted to returning to the home later when he was not wanted.

Judge Hall recommended purposeful incarceration for Milton to curb his substance abuse.