The Indiana Court of Appeals recently affirmed the convictions and sentence of a former Witham Health Services pediatrician who will serve prison time for felony convictions of child molestation, sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction.
Between July 2018 and February of 2019, Dr. Jonathon Cavins, 46, saw five boys between the ages of 12 and 16, for physical examinations at his Lebanon practice. Cavins was convicted and sentenced for acts perpetrated on the five victims while he was their treating pediatrician.
A Boone County jury convicted Cavins in February 2020. In June 2020, he was sentenced to a total sentence of 23 years, with 19 years to be served with the Dept. of Corrections, followed by four years of probation, on five criminal felony counts (two counts of child molesting, a Level 4 felony; one count of sexual misconduct with a minor, a Level 5 felony; and two counts of child seduction, a Level 6 felony).
Cavins appealed the sentence, claiming the state “failed to introduce evidence sufficient to sustain any of his convictions, the trial court abused its discretion in sentencing him, and his sentence (was) inappropriately harsh.”
The Indiana Court of Appeals found “that the jury had ample evidence from which it could infer that Cavins had the requisite intent to support his five convictions.” Additionally, the Court of Appeals ruled Cavins “failed to establish that his aggregate twenty three-year sentence with four years suspended to probation is inappropriate in light of the nature of his offenses and his character.”
Boone County Prosecutor Kent Eastwood said the county is “grateful that the (Indiana) Court of Appeals upheld the convictions and sentence.”
“(The) ruling further confirms the strength and courage demonstrated by the boys that came forward to tell their story of abuse and the outstanding job performed by the investigation team, which included members of the Boone County Prosecutor’s Office, Lebanon Police Department and Sylvia’s Child Advocacy Center.”
