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Valpo-area man no victim in child molest case, judge says, giving him 10 years

Times - 7/23/2022

Jul. 22—VALPARAISO — Taking exception to a Valparaiso-area man's claims to be the victim following his child molesting conviction, Porter Superior Court Judge Mike Fish sentenced the offender Friday morning to a near-maximum term of 10 years behind bars.

The judge suspended three of those years to be served on formal probation with sex offender treatment, but granted the prosecution's request to label 41-year-old Matthew Todosijevic a sexually violent predator and require him to register as a sex offender for life.

"You are woefully uniformed," Fish said of Todosijevic's claims of victimhood.

The courtroom, which was nearly packed with family and supporters of both Todosijevic and the young victim, remained quiet when the sentence was announced. The judge had warned everyone about the penalties they would face if there were a repeat of the disturbances that arose when the guilty verdicts were read last month.

There was also a noticeably increased security presence in the courtroom.

A jury found Todosijevic guilty on one count of child molesting after allegations surfaced in October 2017 that he had touched and had sexual intercourse with an 8-year-old family member after a day of drinking, court records show.

The girl said she woke up to the abuse and said Todosijevic pretended to be asleep during the event, according to police

She reportedly told police that when Todosijevic woke up the next morning, he was "hitting walls and stuff."

Todosijevic was taken into custody following his conviction and has 37 days of credit toward his sentence, the judge said.

He was granted the use of a public defender to appeal his case.

Todosijevic has a rape case pending in Porter County and Fish scheduled a status hearing Aug.1.

A woman claims she was drinking alcohol during a date with the accused during July 2017 when they went back to his apartment and while agreeing ahead of time not to have sex, she later awoke to being raped by him, a court document says.

Todosijevic denied the allegations, police said.

Fish said any sentence stemming from the rape case is to be served consecutively to the child molesting term.

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