| "I didn't know how to react," he said. "I basically said, 'Where are they at and do you have pictures of my kid?' "
He was relieved to find that his child was not one of the ones involved in the case, but the question of whether his son was abused still haunts him.
Light's image had remained wholesome until March, when a 3-year-old girl and her mother walked into the sheriff's department with allegations that would rock this quiet western Indiana town of 2,100: Light had touched the girl's genitals, and there was video.
Investigators armed with a search warrant descended on the little white bungalow that Light shared with her mother and boyfriend, Stephen E. Quick II. They found a videotape whose graphic images, taken over five months beginning in September 2008, sickened even longtime deputies:
A sexual device being used on an infant girl. A young boy engaging in intercourse. A toddler being sodomized.
"I've been a police officer for almost 30 years and it was probably the most sick, disgusting thing I've ever seen," said Chief Deputy Dana Jeffries.
Even though Jones' son, who was about 16 months old while in Light's care, was not among the children on video, physicians examined the boy. The doctors told Jones they found no signs of abuse. He said he found other child care when Light had her baby and that his son wasn't in her care at the time of the arrests.
But he still isn't sure his son wasn't harmed. Now when his son doesn't like to get his diaper changed he wonders whether he was abused or if he's just being a stubborn toddler.
"I don't have no closure," he said. "I just want to know if they did anything to my kid."
Prosecutors charged Light, 26, with four counts of child molestation and one of child exploitation related to the video's production. Quick, 32, faced three counts of child molestation and one of child exploitation. Light pleaded guilty to three counts of molestation Oct. 9 and is to be sentenced Wednesday. Quick is discussing a plea agreement and faces a Dec. 15 hearing at which he could plead guilty or have a trial date set, Fountain County prosecutor Terry Martin said.
Attorneys for Light and Quick have declined to comment.
Jones has had thoughts of revenge since he learned of the allegations. "Whatever they get, they deserve -- and that's not enough," he said.
He said Light sent him a letter from jail July 31 claiming Quick used threats to get her to participate in the assaults.
"Steve made me do the things I would have never done if he hadn't threatened my family," Light wrote, according to Jones. But he isn't buying it.
"You don't do stuff like that to kids," Jones said.
The scars the case has left could be permanent, both for the victims and the one-stoplight community about 65 miles northwest of Indianapolis.
"There was a trust level -- and that's been broken, big time," said Jim Keeling, a 41-year-old mill worker who lives next door to the house where Light and Quick lived.
And the people here are angry about losing the town's unique sense of innocence.
Life in Veedersburg moves along at a laid-back pace and many residents are related. The quiet town has grown quieter as the recession forced many foreclosures and jobs at two local brickyards disappeared.
Until Light and Quick were arrested, crime was almost an afterthought. Doors stay unlocked, keys are left in cars, and with only one pub in town, there aren't even many arrests for public intoxication or disorderly conduct. Town Marshal Neil Beck, a retired Indiana state trooper, says only one working meth lab has been found during his 8 1/2 years on the job.
"People don't worry about everyday dangers," Beck said.
Light, whose family has lived in town for years, had a reputation as a good baby sitter after returning to Veedersburg from Indianapolis, where she spent three years working as a clerk for the Indiana State Teachers Association's insurance trust. She quit her clerk job in February 2008. She and Quick had been together about a year at the time of their arrests.
Jones, a 40-year-old factory worker, said he had felt comfortable leaving his son in her care.
Folks around town knew little about Quick's background, however, and ugly rumors began to surface as time passed.
Police records show Quick had a theft and burglary arrest in Clinton County in the 1990s. He was the focus of a 2000 child molestation investigation in Frankfort after a 3-year-old girl said Quick had shown her pornographic magazines. Frankfort Detective Bill Hackerd said the case was dropped for lack of evidence. Quick's attorney didn't return calls about those allegations.
Investigators say the assaults occurred between September 2008 and February 2009 and that they do not believe there are any victims other than those shown on the tape. Those on the tape are believed to be the 3-year-old girl whose complaint started the investigation, a boy between the ages of 6 and 10, an infant girl under a year old and a boy about 18 months old.
Families in town have become careful about checking their baby sitters' backgrounds since the arrests, said Keeling, Light's neighbor.
Rev. Matt Swisher, pastor at Veedersburg United Methodist Church, said the wounds are still fresh.
"There's a lot of hurt that happened and just a lot of prayer that needs to be going on," he said. |
