Alleged Child Molester Charged And In Lake County Jail
On April 7, 2022, Darese T. Bethley, was charged through the Lake County Prosecutor’s Office with 1 count of Level 1 Child Molesting and 1 count of Level 3 Child Molesting, according to Hobart Police Captain James Gonzales.
These charges stem from incidents that occurred between July 9, 2021 through July 12, 2021 at an apartment complex, located in Hobart Indiana. The mother of the juvenile stated that she would allow her daughter, who is the juvenile victim to stay with Darese T. Bethley, who is her uncle a week at a time a couple times a month. The mother stated she picked her daughter up from Darese Bethley’s house on July 12, 2021 and the two of them went to bed that evening. The next day, the victim told her mom that her private parts hurt and she was rubbing her groin area. The victim told her mom that Darese had licked her and she further demonstrated what Darese did to her, by licking her own finger.
The victim’s mother took her to an Illinois hospital and a sexual assault kit and sexually transmitted disease testing were conducted. The victim’s mother was notified a short time after the examinations by the hospital, which the results concluded that her daughter tested positive for a sexually transmitted disease. The victim was taken back to the hospital once again and a confirmation test was performed, which concluded once again, the victim tested positive with the same sexually transmitted disease.
A Hobart Detective subsequently conducted an interview with Darese Bethley and he denied having performed any sexual acts with the victim. Darese was asked if he would consent to sexually transmitted testing and he agreed to be tested, so the Detective told Darese that a representative from the Health Department was on station and he can be tested right now, Darese asked the Detective “what if I can’t pee” and then told the Detective that he had to leave for work. Darese left on his own, but told the Detective that he would consent to be tested the following day at a local health department.
The following day, Darese went to the local health department, he wasn’t cooperative at first with the nurse and the procedures that had to be followed in order for the test to be conducted. Darese wouldn’t allow the nurse to observe him providing the sample, so the first sample was discarded. Before Darese provided the second sample, he told the nurse he had to go to his car first, Darese returned and again wouldn’t allow the nurse to observe him provide the sample. The nurse told the Detective the second sample had a small white foreign object inside of the urine sample, which Darese told the nurse that he was chewing something and it must have fallen into the sample. The nurse told the Detective that Darese provided another sample in front of him without any further suspicious incidents. The test subsequently came back positive for a sexual transmitted disease.
The Detective used the subpoena process to obtain health department records for Darese Bethley through the State of Illinois, which the Department of Health records determined that Darese tested positive for the same sexual transmitted disease as the victim in late May of 2021.
Darese Bethley is currently being held at the Lake County Jail.
If anyone knows of someone who has been molested or if you have been a victim of molestation, please notify your local police department or someone you trust, Hobart Police said. You don’t have to suffer in silence, there are resources available to assist victim(s) of molestation. Please notify Hobart Lieutenant Nicholas Wardip at nwardip@cityofhobart.org or by desk phone at 219-942-4485.
