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FOR PUBLICATION
ATTORNEY FOR APPELLANT: BRUCE W. GRAHAM Graham Law Firm P.C. Lafayette, Indiana ATTORNEYS FOR APPELLEE: GREGORY F. ZOELLER Attorney General of Indiana HENRY A. FLORES, JR. Deputy Attorney General Indianapolis, Indiana

FILED
of the supreme court, court of appeals and tax court

Dec 30 2009, 9:29 am

IN THE COURT OF APPEALS OF INDIANA
STEVEN ALLEN GELLENBECK, Appellant/Defendant, vs. STATE OF INDIANA, Appellee/Plaintiff. ) ) ) ) ) ) ) ) )

CLERK

No. 79A02-0903-CR-253

APPEAL FROM THE TIPPECANOE SUPERIOR COURT The Honorable David J. Crouse, Judge Cause No. 79D01-0708-FD-36

December 30, 2009 OPINION - FOR PUBLICATION

BRADFORD, Judge

Appellant/Defendant Steven Gellenbeck appeals from his convictions of and sentences for five counts of Class D felony Child Seduction.1 We affirm. FACTS AND PROCEDURAL HISTORY V.S.s parents divorced when she was seven years old, and her father ("Father") was awarded custody of her when she was ten. When V.S. was sixteen years old, her "relationship with her mother was becoming very, very difficult. It was affecting her very adversely [as well as] starting to have a negative effect" on her relationship with Father. Tr. p. 96. Moreover, V.S.s "grades were just a disaster and, uh, just could not, [Father] couldnt get it solved." Tr. p. 96. V.S.s therapist suggested that a stronger female presence in her life could benefit her, so Father made arrangements for her to live with Gellenbeck (who was forty-two at the time) and his wife Theresa, her aunt and uncle, during the 2006-2007 school year. Gellenbeck and Theresa "were more than willing to do whatever it took to help out to try to straighten out V.S.s life." Tr. 97. Three months after V.S. moved in with Gellenbeck and Theresa, her mother committed suicide, an event that "absolutely devastated" her. Tr. p. 117. Through the school year, V.S. stayed with Gellenbeck and Theresa in Lafayette during the week and with Father every other weekend. During the time V.S. lived with Gellenbeck and Theresa, they were "taking care of the tasks that a parent would normally take care of[.]" Tr. p. 171. Gellenbeck and Theresa provided V.S. with food, shelter, and transportation, and V.S.s school had permission to confer with Gellenbeck "about any educational issue that may arise." Tr. p.99.

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Ind. Code

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