Title: Jessica McCain v. State of Indiana
Citation: N/A
Docket Number: 18S-CR-26
State: Indiana
Issuer: Indiana Supreme Court
Date: January 17, 2018

ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT 
 
 
 
 
ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE 
Brian A. Karle 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Curtis T. Hill, Jr. 
Ball Eggleston, PC 
 
 
 
 
 
Attorney General of Indiana 
Lafayette, Indiana 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Matthew B. Mackenzie 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Deputy Attorney General 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Indianapolis, Indiana 
 
 
 
______________________________________________________________________________ 
 
In the 
Indiana Supreme Court  
_________________________________ 
 
No. 18S-CR-26 
 
JESSICA MCCAIN,  
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
Appellant (Defendant below), 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
 
    v. 
 
STATE OF INDIANA,    
 
 
 
 
 
Appellee (Plaintiff below).  
_________________________________ 
 
Appeal from the Tippecanoe Superior Court, No. 79D01-1606-F1-8  
The Honorable Randy J. Williams, Judge 
_________________________________ 
 
On Petition to Transfer from the Indiana Court of Appeals, No. 79A02-1703-CR-616 
_________________________________ 
 
January 17, 2018 
 
Per Curiam. 
 
Jessica McCain, then twenty-three years old, placed her mouth on her one-year-old son’s 
penis while bathing him.  The incident occurred after McCain had oral sex with her boyfriend.  He 
left the apartment and sent her text messages that were sexual in nature.  At her boyfriend’s urging, 
McCain recorded the incident with her son on a borrowed cell phone with the intent of sending the 
video to the boyfriend.   
 
FILED
C L E R K
Indiana Supreme Court
Court of Appeals
and Tax Court
Jan 17 2018, 2:59 pm
2 
 
 
McCain pleaded guilty to Level 1 felony child molesting, for which the sentence is a fixed 
term between twenty and fifty years, with an advisory term of thirty years.  See Ind. Code § 35-
50-2-4.  The trial court identified as mitigating factors McCain’s guilty plea, lack of criminal 
history, and history of employment.  The court identified as aggravating factors McCain’s position 
of care, custody, and control of the victim, the victim’s age, and McCain’s intent at the time of the 
offense.  The court found the aggravators outweigh the mitigators and imposed a forty-year 
sentence with thirty-eight years executed and two years suspended to probation.      
 
McCain appealed her sentence.  The Court of Appeals reduced McCain’s sentence to thirty 
years, finding the forty-year sentence inappropriate under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B).  McCain 
v. State, No. 79A02-1703-CR-616, 2017 WL 4079491 (Ind. Ct. App. Sept. 15, 2017).  The State 
seeks transfer. 
The Indiana Constitution authorizes independent appellate review and revision of a trial 
court’s sentencing decision.  Ind. Const. art. 7, §§ 4, 6; Serino v. State, 798 N.E.2d 852, 856 (Ind. 
2003).  This authority is implemented through Appellate Rule 7(B), which permits an appellate 
court to revise a sentence if, after due consideration of the trial court’s decision, the sentence is 
found to be inappropriate in light of the nature of the offense and the character of the offender. 
Serino, 798 N.E.2d at 856.  The principal role of such review is to attempt to leaven the outliers.  
Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219, 1225 (Ind. 2008). 
 
Our judgment is that the sentence imposed by the trial court in this case is not inappropriate 
under Appellate Rule 7(B) and does not warrant appellate revision.  Accordingly, we grant transfer, 
see Ind. Appellate Rule 58(A), and affirm the sentence imposed by the trial court. 
 
Rush, C.J., and David, Massa, and Goff, JJ., concur. 
Slaughter, J., votes to deny transfer.