A man accused of rape in an incident at a Culver residence on July 3, 2017 was sentenced in Starke Circuit Court Wednesday morning.
Thomas Holloway, 20, pleaded guilty in a plea agreement between the defense and the State to charges of rape as a Level 3 Felony and child exploitation as a Level 5 Felony. He admitted in open court that he had sexual intercourse with a then-15-year-old girl without her awareness of the action. Holloway also admitted that he photographed a private part of her body, an act of which the victim had no knowledge.
The victim in the case, who is now 17, gave a victim’s impact statement to the court. She spoke of the action that remains with her to this day. She said she’s physically harmed herself on many occasions, but only recently attempted suicide to get rid of the daily reminder of the feelings she felt that night.
She mentioned that she hated Holloway for what he did to her, but for the first time since July 3, 2017, she forgave him in open court. She confidently stated that she is not going to let the events of that day rule her future.
One thing that she said she was able to do as a result of this experience was to raise $1,500 to free a woman from sex slavery to end that victim’s cycle of abuse.
In a statement to the court, Holloway apologized to the victim, the victim’s family, and his family.
Starke Circuit Court Judge Kim Hall did accept the plea agreement and noted that he saw no aggravating factors. He stated that Holloway has tremendous support from family members, he is educated, has no criminal history in his young age, and is remorseful.
In the terms of the agreement, on the charge of rape, Holloway will serve seven years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with three years of the sentence suspended to be served on probation. He will serve the remainder of his sentence under electronic monitoring with Michiana Community Corrections. On the charge of child exploitation, he will serve two years in the Indiana Department of Corrections with none of the sentence suspended. The sentence will be permitted to be served with Michiana Community Corrections. The two sentences will be served concurrently, or at the same time. He is ordered to have no contact with the victim as he serves his sentence at his grandparent’s home in Elkhart County.
