Winchester man who reportedly vowed to never return to prison charged with soliciting kids

WINCHESTER, Ind. — More than three decades after he was convicted in a Randolph County homicide, a Winchester man has been accused of sexually soliciting two children.

Thomas J. Antrim, 71, reportedly mentioned his 1991 conviction for voluntary manslaughter to the juveniles he is accused of repeatedly exposing himself to, telling them that "he was not going back to jail," according to an affidavit.

Antrim was charged Wednesday in Randolph Circuit Court with three counts of child solicitation, two counts each of contributing to the delinquency of a minor and performing sexual conduct in the presence of a minor, and single counts of possession of marijuana and possession of paraphernalia.

Arrested on Tuesday, the Winchester man was being held in the Randolph County Jail under a bond of $8,000.

His two accusers, both under the age of 14, told investigators Antrim was a longtime friend of their family before he "began to be creepy and do nasty things," the court document alleged.

The children said in addition to exposing himself to them, Antrim showed them adult sex toys and tried to persuade them to expose themselves.

Antrim had asked one of the children to fondle him, which the child refused to do, according to prosecutors. The other child said the Winchester man had paid $30 to be present when he committed a sex act.

The children also said Antrim had repeatedly smoked marijuana with them.

When Winchester police served a search warrant at Antrim's home on Tuesday, they reported finding items that had been described by the accusers, including glass jars containing marijuana.

Three of the charges against Antrim are Level 5 felonies carrying maximum six-year prison terms, while four others are Level 6 felonies with maximum 30-month sentences.

In August 1991, Antrim received a maximum 20-year prison term from then-Randolph Circuit Court Judge Zane Stohler after pleading guilty to voluntary manslaughter.

He had at first been charged with murder in the August 1990 slaying of 32-year-old Ricky D. Handy, a Randolph County man who died outside a Ridgeville convenience store after being kicked in the head.

At his sentencing hearing, Antrim said he was in a "jealous rage" after seeing Handy in the company of Antrim's former girlfriend. He acknowledged the victim, the father of two children, had done nothing to provoke the attack.

Judge Stohler noted Antrim's "relentless" history of violence, including a domestic battery conviction and allegations of stalking, before imposing the 20-year sentence.

Antrim was released from prison in June 2001, according to a state Department of Correction website.

In December 2006, Antrim was arrested for indecent exposure near downtown Muncie after La Toya Jackson — then filming "Armed and Famous," a CBS-TV reality series that featured celebrities working as Muncie police officers — reported he had exposed himself to her during an undercover prostitution sting.

However, formal charges were never filed in that case.

He was also acquitted of indecent exposure at the conclusion of a Randolph Superior Court trial in June 2012.

Douglas Walker is a news reporter at The Star Press. Contact him at 765-213-5851 or at dwalker@muncie.gannett.com.

This article originally appeared on Muncie Star Press: Winchester man charged with child solicitation, sexual misconduct