Pat Dollard

Tweet

NWTimes:

VALPARAISO | Prosecutors opted Monday to exercise their right to charge a 16-year-old Valparaiso girl as an adult on accusations of handcuffing, confining for hours and sexually assaulting a 17-year-old boy last week.

April Kuchta, of the 300 block of Roseland Terrace, was charged with felony counts of criminal deviate conduct, criminal confinement, intimidation and sexual battery, as well as a misdemeanor battery charge.

The seriousness of the first two offenses provide the option for adult charges without the more typical waiver process, said Deputy Prosecutor Tim Haraminac.

Kuchta was transferred Monday from juvenile detention to the Porter County Jail.

The Times policy is to withhold the names of criminal suspects younger than 18, unless waived to adult court.

A 14-year-old girl, who also was charged with the offense, admitted in juvenile court Monday to battery and confinement charges, as well as to charges from earlier unrelated incidents.

The girl, who wept during her hearing, told the court she used a fake knife and denied stabbing the boy. A sentencing hearing was scheduled for 8:30 a.m. May 9.

The charging information, which reveals far more details than were released last week by police, accuses Kuchta of luring the boy, who has special needs, to her house via text messages to talk between 8 and 9 p.m. April 9. The boy then reportedly was led at knifepoint to the kitchen where he was handcuffed behind his back and poked with the knife.

Kuchta is accused of recording some of the incident with her cell phone while forcing the boy to make humiliating statements. She also is accused of sexually assaulting him and pleading with him for sex.

The boy allegedly was left in handcuffs for two hours covered completely with a blanket, during which time the younger girl is accused of placing tissue in his mouth and taping it shut. The girls are accused of inviting others over to witness the confinement.

An unknown male reportedly freed the boy at one point. He allegedly was recaptured at knifepoint and placed back in handcuffs by Kuchta, only to be freed again by an unknown person and bitten on the arm by Kuchta during a struggle for the knife.