INDIANAPOLIS – He licked applesauce off her knee.
Later, he exposed himself.
A 10-year-old girl said the behavior made her feel “kinda awkward” and “super uncomfortable.”
Now, 52-year-old Edward Maguire awaits sentencing after a jury convicted him Tuesday of child molesting, child solicitation and dissemination of matter harmful to a minor in connection with an August 2019 incident involving a 10-year-old girl.
According to the probable cause affidavit, a detective began investigating the case in early September 2019, when an Indianapolis Metropolitan Police Department report indicated Maguire had inappropriate contact with a minor at home on North Irvington Avenue.
The investigator interviewed a school counselor who spoke with the girl and her mother. The girl said she was reading and eating applesauce on the porch with Maguire on the evening of Aug. 30, 2019, when he “licked applesauce off of her knee after telling her to place some there.”
After it happened, the girl went upstairs to take a shower. Maguire followed her upstairs, she told police, and stayed in her room after she showered. He rubbed her leg and “kept asking her if she wanted to see his penis,” according to court documents. He also asked to see her underwear.
The girl pulled up her nightgown “in hopes he would leave her alone.” During a separate interview, the girl said she felt “really scared” and feared Maguire was “actually going to touch her further.” He kept asking if he could kiss her; she continued to decline. At one point, he “leaned over to her face and kissed her,” the girl said. She declined further kisses.
After the 10-year-old had taken a shower, she said Maguire exposed himself and asked her if she wanted to touch his penis. She declined and he began to fondle himself. She admitted the entire situation made her feel “super uncomfortable.” She looked away and told Maguire to stop; she said he tricked her at one point, lying about stopping only for her to look back and see he was still exposing himself.
Maguire did eventually stop, the girl said, because “he knew it was making her uncomfortable.” The girl then went downstairs because she knew she could get away from Maguire and other people were down there, including the girl’s grandmother. She eventually screamed at him to “go away,” leading him to immediately leave the home. She told her mother what happened.
Maguire was at the residence to help around the home after the girl’s grandfather had been injured, family members said. He had been recently investigated for inappropriately touching another juvenile, the girl’s grandmother told police, and “has an issue keeping his hands to himself,” especially when he’s been drinking. She also said he had a criminal history out of Florida “alleging sexual abuse as well.”
During an interview, Maguire denied the allegations, although “the majority of his claims of the events that evening contradicted” other statements and interviews, police said. He did confirm being in the home and in the girl’s room. He also said he’d “had a few beers” on the porch.
Prosecutors filed formal charges against Maguire on Sept. 30, 2019, about a month after the incident. His trial was pushed back multiple times before being held in January 2023.
The most serious charge, the child molesting count, is a Level 4 felony carrying a penalty of 2 to 12 years. Child solicitation is a Level 5 felony carrying a penalty of 1 to 6 years, while dissemination of matter harmful to minors is a Level 6 felony carrying a penalty of 6 months to 2.5 years.
