Washington Times-Herald
PLAINVILLE — A Plainville man was arrested Wednesday on multiple child molesting charges. Eric Robert James Pretzel, 38, was being held at the Daviess County Security Center on $500,000 bond. Lt. Charles Milton, with the Daviess County Sheriff’s Department, investigated the case which, according to the probable cause affidavit, was brought to law enforcement’s attention on Dec. 21, 2009. The mother of two juveniles, a 14-year-old girl and 12-year-old boy, reported they had been left in Pretzel’s care for the evening of Dec. 18, 2009, while the children’s parents were out. One of the children later told their mother they were playing a game with Pretzel in which he exposed himself and had them expose themselves. Child Protective Services was notified and interviewed the boy, who said they were playing a game of truth and dare. Pretzel escalated the dares until the children had exposed their private parts to him. He also exposed himself to them. The boy said he feared for his and his sister’s safety and was afraid not to go along with the game. There was no physical contact during the incident, according to the children. After the game was over, the girl called a relative and told her what had happened. Two female relatives came to the house and spoke to Pretzel about what had happened. He then went to the boy’s room and told him if he talked about what had happened he would go to jail and the children could end up in “juvy.” The 12-year-old said the Dec. 18 incident was not the first time Pretzel had exposed himself or had the boy expose himself. The other incidents had happened within the last year or two and took place at Pretzel’s home, where the child was helping him with chores. These had involved physical contact and Pretzel had shown the child pornographic magazines. The child said he was threatened with bodily harm by Pretzel if he told anyone. Child Protective Services also interviewed the 14-year-old girl who confirmed her brother’s description of the Dec. 18 incident and said that after relatives arrived, Pretzel had also come to her room and warned her not to tell anyone. Milton and Sgt. Detective Bill Dougherty went to Pretzel’s residence on Dec. 22, 2009, and after obtaining a search warrant searched the property. They located drug residue and paraphernalia, as well as pornographic magazines. Pretzel was charged Wednesday with 20 counts of child molesting, seven counts of dissemination of matter harmful to minors, two counts of intimidation and possession of paraphernalia.
