Former Madison Mayor sentenced to probation in child exploitation case

He will have register has a sex offender for 10 years

MADISON, Ind. - A judge agreed to a sentence five years of probation for Former Madison Mayor Tim Armstrong, he also was a former Resource Officer for Madison Schools and was a former police detective with the Madison Police.

The victim was 12 when Armstrong approached the boy at school and began asking sexual questions, according to court records. The boy’s father said Armstrong was “grooming” his son and “started asking him about all kinds of different sexual questions, his sexual history.”

The boy reported the contact after recognizing it was wrong. Court records say Armstrong suggested it would be funny if the boy sent him a video of a sex act.

The boy’s father, who is not being identified to protect his son, said he was angry about the plea agreement.

“You can’t put it into words honestly — unless I see his grave, that’s the only way I’m going to be happy,” he said.

Special prosecutor Ric Hertel, who took over the case in July from a previous special prosecutor, defended the plea deal.

“Based on the information that I had, the evidence that I felt was admissible in court, I felt this was an appropriate resolution,” Hertel said.

He plead guilty in January guilty plea to two counts as part of a plea deal. The judge in the case said that this conviction will ensure that Armstrong could never be around children and that he will forever be known as a convicted child sex offender.

After which he formally sentenced Armstrong to 4 years, all suspended to probation, for the Level 5 Felony of Attempted Child Exploitation. He was then sentenced to 1 year, suspended to probation for a Level 6 Felony of Official Misconduct.

He received credit for 9 actual days served when he was initially arrested. He will also have to register as a sex offender for a period of 10 years.