Jonathon Cavins v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.)

Indiana Court of Appeals·Decided January 22, 2021·No. 20A-CR-1213·Published

Opinion

MEMORANDUM DECISION Pursuant to Ind. Appellate Rule 65(D), this Memorandum Decision shall not be FILED regarded as precedent or cited before any Jan 22 2021, 8:29 am court except for the purpose of establishing CLERK

the defense of res judicata, collateral Indiana Supreme Court Court of Appeals

estoppel, or the law of the case. and Tax Court

ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLANT ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE James H. Voyles, Jr. Theodore E. Rokita Jennifer M. Lukemeyer Attorney General of Indiana Voyles Vaiana Lukemeyer Baldwin & Jodi Kathryn Stein Webb Supervising Deputy Attorney Indianapolis, Indiana General Indianapolis, Indiana

IN THE

COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA

Jonathon Cavins, January 22, 2021 Appellant-Defendant, Court of Appeals Case No.

20A-CR-1213

v. Appeal from the Boone Superior Court

State of Indiana, The Hon. Lori Schein, Judge

Appellee-Plaintiff. Trial Court Cause No.

06C01-1902-F4-396

Bradford, Chief Judge.

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-1213 | January 22, 2021 Page 1 of 17

Case Summary

[1] Between July of 2018 and February of 2019, Dr. Jonathon Cavins saw Z.B.,

B.H., J.S., S.H., and A.M., all boys between the ages of twelve and sixteen, for physical examinations at his Lebanon practice. During the examinations, Cavins stroked the penises of all five boys and introduced condoms into their discussions, placing or attempting to place them on four of the boys’ penises. The State eventually charged Cavins with two counts of Level 4 felony child molesting, one count of Level 5 felony sexual misconduct with a minor, and two counts of Level 6 felony child seduction. A jury convicted Cavins as charged, and the trial court sentenced him to an aggregate term of twenty-three years of incarceration with four years suspended to probation. Cavins contends that 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 is inappropriately harsh. Because we disagree, we affirm.

Facts and Procedural History [2] Beginning in 2008, Cavins was a pediatrician practicing medicine at Witham

Health Services in Lebanon, and the practice group to which Cavins belonged used the American Academy of Pediatrics (“AAP”) recommended practice to guide the physicians through the various health stages of children. Part of the AAP recommendation practice was to discuss various topics with adolescents twelve and older who were near to or entering puberty, which included drugs and alcohol, puberty, abuse, sexually-transmitted diseases, safe sex, and condoms. While it was acceptable by AAP standards to discuss condoms and

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-1213 | January 22, 2021 Page 2 of 17 even demonstrate the proper use of a condom on an object, such as a banana, there was no medical reason to ever put a condom on a patient during a medical examination nor to ever stroke a patient’s penis in order to induce an erection.

[3] In July of 2018, Cavins saw thirteen-year-old Z.B. for a physical examination. After Cavins performed the standard physical examination with Z.B.’s mother in the room, Cavins took Z.B. to a different room, asked him to fill out a depression-screening form, and told him to undress and put on a gown. Cavins returned a short time later, and Cavins asked Z.B. if he was sexually active, to which Z.B. replied that he was not. Cavins left the examination room, retrieved a condom, and returned. Cavins opened the condom package and started to rub Z.B.’s penis by moving his hand back and forth in a symmetrical fashion several times. Cavins put the condom on Z.B.’s penis, but took it off and threw it away when Z.B. did not have an erection. Z.B. reported the incident to his mother that day.

[4] In the fall of 2018, Cavins saw sixteen-year-old B.H. for a physical examination. Cavins had placed a condom on B.H. during an earlier visit but had not stroked B.H.’s penis at that time. When alone with Cavins, B.H. asked Cavins to measure his penis because he wanted to know if his penis was small. Cavins used a cloth measuring tape to hold B.H.’s penis and measure it. Afterward, Cavins started to stroke B.H.’s penis with three fingers; Cavins commented that B.H.’s penis was not getting hard. B.H. tried to change the

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-1213 | January 22, 2021 Page 3 of 17 subject, but Cavins continued to stroke his penis. B.H. pulled away. Cavins was not wearing medical gloves.

[5] On December 7, 2018, Cavins saw fifteen-year-old J.S. as a new patient for a physical examination. After completing the initial new patient intake, Cavins took J.S. to a different room, left him with a depression-screening form, and told him to undress and put on a gown. Cavins asked J.S. if he was sexually active, to which J.S. replied that he was not. Cavins asked J.S. if he knew what a condom was, and J.S. said yes. Cavins pulled a condom out of his pocket and opened the package. Cavins started to stroke J.S.’s penis with his hand, with his thumb on top and two fingers on the bottom. Cavins attempted to put the condom on J.S.’s penis but it fell off because his penis was not erect. The situation felt awkward and “nasty” to J.S. Tr. Vol. V p. 26. Cavins told J.S. that he should wipe off his penis after using a condom to avoid “red penis.” Tr. Vol. V p. 27. Cavins used a baby wipe and wiped off J.S.’s penis by holding the head of the penis with one hand and wiping the penis off with the other hand. Cavins did not wear gloves during the medical examination. J.S. told his parents about the experience when they left the office, but J.S.’s father decided not to report the incident because he trusted Cavins and had faith that nothing untoward had happened.

[6] On January 9, 2019, Cavins saw sixteen-year-old S.H. for a physical examination. After Cavins performed the standard physical examination with S.H.’s mother in the room, Cavins took S.H. to a different room, asked him to fill out a depression-screening form, and to undress and put on a gown. Cavins

Court of Appeals of Indiana | Memorandum Decision 20A-CR-1213 | January 22, 2021 Page 4 of 17 returned a short time later, reviewed S.H.’s answers on the form, and performed the rest of the physical examination, which included a hernia examination and a check for discharge from S.H.’s penis. Cavins asked S.H. if he was sexually active, to which S.H. replied that he was not. As Cavins manipulated S.H.’s testicles, Cavins began talking about condoms and asked S.H. if he wanted to see one. S.H. said yes, so Cavins retrieved one from the cabinet above the sink, opened the package, and handed it to S.H. When Cavins asked, S.H. told Cavins that he did not want to put it on; Cavins, however, held S.H.’s testicles and started to stroke S.H.’s penis with his hand around the penis in a circle. Cavins tried to put the condom on S.H.’s penis, but S.H. “smacked” Cavins’s hand away. Tr. Vol. IV p. 22. Cavins said, “okay,” placed the condom on S.H.’s finger, and stroked it with his whole hand wrapped around S.H.’s finger. Tr. Vol. IV p. 22. Cavins explained what the condom was for and how to use and dispose of it. Cavins also advised S.H. that his penis would be sticky so to gently clean it off. Cavins told S.H. to “keep it between us.” Tr. Vol. IV p. 46. Cavins did not wear gloves during the medical examination. S.H. felt uncomfortable and reported the incident to his mother. S.H.’s parents decided to give Cavins the benefit of the doubt and did not report the incident.

[7] On February 4, 2019, Cavins saw twelve-year-old A.M. for a physical. After Cavins performed the standard physical examination with A.M.’s family in the room, Cavins took A.M. to a different room and asked him to fill out a depression-screening form, undress, and put on a gown. When Cavins returned, A.M. declined Cavins’s invitation to see a condom, telling Cavins that

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