HANCOCK COUNTY, Ind. — An Indiana man has been elected to the Hancock County Council after Tuesday’s election – despite being on house arrest for a sexual assault charge in Nevada.
John D. Jessup – a former Commissioner for Hancock County’s District 1 – was elected this week to the County Council as one of three Republican candidates. He received over 15,000 votes while both Democrat challengers barely cracked 10,000 each.
Jessup’s election comes in spite of the fact that he is currently on house arrest as he awaits trial for a felony sexual assault charge.
The 49-year-old Shirley resident was arrested earlier this year, extradited to Las Vegas and booked into jail before being released on a $100,000 bond.
Sexual assault accusations
Jessup was arrested in June by local police and then extradited to Nevada after being charged with one count of sexual assault. The charge stems from a reported sexual assault of a woman after she and Jessup had a drunken night out in Las Vegas.
The woman described how, during a night out in Vegas, Jessup “kept feeding her” Long Island Iced Teas despite her wanting to stop and drink water. Jessup then reportedly took the woman to a gentleman’s club where she became sick and started throwing up in the bathroom.
Jessup and the woman then reportedly went back to their hotel, but the woman was so intoxicated she needed to be put into a wheelchair to make it up to her room. Once inside, the woman said she got into the shower fully clothed and turned the water on to sober up.
However, the woman told police that the next thing she remembers is waking up in a bed lying next to Jessup. She said both she and Jessup were naked and he was touching her sexually.
Jessup reportedly got out of bed in a hurry once the woman woke up, got dressed and went downstairs to smoke a cigarette. Court documents detail how the woman said Jessup kept saying he was sorry and that he should “just kill himself.”
The woman said she pretended to be asleep the rest of the night after Jessup returned and got out of bed early to tell her husband what happened. Soon after, she booked a flight back home and later blocked Jessup’s phone number because he insisted on taking her to the airport.
Other witnesses who were with Jessup and the victim corroborated the woman’s story to detectives, adding that Jessup said “What happens in Vegas stays in Vegas” multiple times throughout the night. One witness told police Jessup was “trying to run” for commissioner in Hancock County and that the sexual assault allegation may impact this.
‘Nothing criminal’ happened
Las Vegas police then called the Shirley Police Department in Hancock County and asked them to bring Jessup in for an interview. Jessup gave his account of the incident, which he described as “nothing criminal” and “f***ed up.” Police noted that Jessup even laughed during questioning.
Jessup told Shirley police that he and the woman had gotten drunk in Vegas and went to a gentleman’s club where they continued to drink. He claimed that, while at the strip club, the woman put his hands on her chest and said the action was “weird” and “messed up.”
The suspect then described how he and the woman headed back to their hotel and went upstairs because she had gotten “pretty lit.” He described how the woman got her clothes wet in the shower and said she asked him to help her get into bed.
Jessup said that while the woman was undressed, she asked him to get in bed with her because she was cold. Police then asked Jessup why the woman wanted to leave soon after, to which he replied that “there was inappropriate contact” between him and the victim.
Police pressed Jessup further on the “inappropriate contact,” and he eventually admitted that he touched her sexually. He denied having sex with her and said he never bragged to others about the incident, despite others saying he did.
Court documents show how Jessup then went on to tell police that there was “nothing criminal” about what he had done and reiterated that it was just a “f***ed up, drunk night.” Jessup also reportedly admitted that he said he should kill himself, which police said implies he knew what he did was wrong.
Finally, Jessup told police that he had not spoken with the woman since and hadn’t “had the chance to apologize.” He added that he had been in therapy since the incident and that he “has not had a drop” of alcohol since that night.
Arrest and aftermath
Given the information gathered by detectives, LVMPD filed for a warrant to arrest Jessup. The warrant was later granted in Clark County Court and Jessup was arrested by Shirley police on June 14.
Jessup was extradited to Las Vegas and booked into the Clark County Detention Center on June 26. A judge denied him bail the next day, although his bail amount was later set at $100,000 after initial hearings.
Over a month later on Aug. 10, Jessup was released after posting bail and being placed on “unsupervised custody status” – or house arrest. Despite being released, he is still considered an in-custody inmate at the jail.
No plea deal has been entered in Jessup’s case as of Thursday afternoon. A jury trial is scheduled to begin at 8:30 a.m. on Feb. 24, 2025.
Moving forward
According to the Greenfield Daily Reporter, a local newspaper, Jessup has called county officials and promised that he will step down and allow them to hold a caucus to select a replacement.
In June at the time of Jessup’s arrest, Commissioners President Bill Spalding said that Hancock County will not comment on Jessup’s arrest.
“The commissioners do not have much information regarding the reason for the arrest and will refrain from any comment while this out-of-state agency has a charge and an active investigation ongoing,” Spalding said. “We will direct all further inquiry to the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department.”
FOX59/CBS4 has reached out to both the Hancock County Council and the local Republican Party for comment. We have not heard back as of 2:30 p.m. Thursday.
(Except for the headline, this story has not been edited by PostX News and is published from a syndicated feed.)
