A former Hardin County probation officer will spend a mandatory eight years behind bars after pleading guilty to two counts of rape.
48 year old, Donald Castle pleaded guilty to two counts of rape as part of a plea deal. Five other counts of rape and two counts of gross sexual imposition were dropped. Castle faced a maximum of 22 years in prison. The charges came after a 2013 investigation which found that Castle raped or had sexual contact with one female and three males, two of which had developmental disabilities. The judge gave Castle three years for the first count of rape and five years for the second count of rape. He was only sentenced for the two counts of rape against the female victim because the incidences against the other victims were dropped in the plea deal.
The female victim spoke at the sentencing today claiming she never came forward during her six years of abuse because of Castle's position within law enforcement. Castle was very emotional during the entire sentencing and apologized to the victim and took responsibility for his actions. He said was remorseful for what he had done to her.
The crimes took place over a 19 year period and none of the victims were associated with Castle's role as a probation officer castle will also have to pay $2,000 in fines, register as a tier three sex offender and have five years of post-release control.
