Former Indiana commissioner gets jail time for attempted assault on daughter

John Jessup, a former Hancock County commissioner in Indiana, was sentenced on Thursday to 6 to fifteen years in jail after pleading responsible to attempted sexual assault of his daughter throughout her twenty first birthday journey to Las Vegas in January 2023.
According to court docket paperwork, Jessup took his daughter Rachel Keesling to Harrah’s Las Vegas, the place they drank and gambled. Prosecutors mentioned Jessup inspired her to proceed ingesting regardless of her feeling unwell and supplied her with three Long Island iced teas. After taking her to a strip membership, Keesling grew to become so intoxicated that she needed to be returned to the lodge in a wheelchair.
Keesling later awakened of their lodge room to seek out her father sexually assaulting her. Jessup stopped when she started to maneuver. He was initially charged with sexual assault however entered a plea settlement with the Clark County District Attorney’s Office, decreasing the cost to attempted sexual assault.
As a part of the plea deal, Jessup should serve a minimal of six years in jail, register as a intercourse offender, and is barred from contacting his daughter or different members of the family for life.
“Since my biological father sexually assaulted me on January 26 last year, my life feels like it’s shattered,” Keesling mentioned in court docket throughout her assertion earlier than sentencing. She mentioned she publicly recognized herself after Jessup was elected to the Hancock City Council regardless of the costs.
“I’m processing a lot right now in all aspects,” she mentioned after the choice, including that she has modified her final title and continues to cope with the psychological affect of the assault.
Jessup, 50, was nonetheless serving as county commissioner when the incident occurred and later ran for metropolis council whereas the costs had been pending. He has since resigned from his elected place. In court docket, he mentioned, “I’m not the same man I was.”
“Fathers are supposed to protect their children. They’re not supposed to violate them when they are vulnerable,” mentioned Deputy District Attorney Morgan Thomas.