Marion Longfellow v. State of Indiana (mem. dec.), 34A02-1704-CR-817

In May 2016, M.W., then 13, reported that her grandfather, Marion Longfellow (age ~81–82), touched her breast while they were in his garage; she moved his hand away and left.
Longfellow admitted in a police interview that he placed his hand on her breast and said he had trouble remembering details; he suggested she was "teasing him sexually."
The State charged one count of child molesting as a Level 1 felony; Longfellow pleaded guilty to the lesser included offense of child molesting as a Level 4 felony pursuant to a plea agreement.
Presentence information showed Longfellow had serious medical issues (multiple heart attacks, stroke history, memory loss) and took several medications that can affect mental state; his neurologist warned incarceration could impair his stroke care.
The trial court found aggravators (position of trust; attempted minimization/blaming the victim) and mitigators (no criminal history; guilty plea) and sentenced Longfellow to ten years executed plus sex-offender registration.
On appeal under Indiana Appellate Rule 7(B), the Court of Appeals evaluated whether the ten-year sentence was inappropriate given the nature of the offense and Longfellow’s character.

Issue	Plaintiff's Argument (State)	Defendant's Argument (Longfellow)	Held
Whether the ten-year executed sentence for Level 4 child molesting is inappropriate under Ind. Appellate Rule 7(B)	Trial court’s findings justified an above-advisory executed sentence given abuse of trust and minimization; deference to trial court.	Sentence is excessive; offense was a single (non-brutal) touching and Longfellow’s age, medical conditions, lack of criminal history, and plea warrant a minimal/suspended sentence.	Court of Appeals: Ten-year sentence is inappropriate. Remanded with instruction to impose the advisory six-year executed sentence.

Cardwell v. State, 895 N.E.2d 1219 (Ind. 2008) (appellate review should correct outlier sentences, not substitute a preferred one)
Anglemyer v. State, 868 N.E.2d 482 (Ind. 2007) (defendant bears burden to show sentence is inappropriate)
Shoun v. State, 67 N.E.3d 637 (Ind. 2017) (describing appellate standard and defendant’s burden under Rule 7(B))
Childress v. State, 848 N.E.2d 1073 (Ind. 2006) (advisory sentence is the legislature’s starting point)
Stephenson v. State, 29 N.E.3d 111 (Ind. 2015) (trial-court deference unless compelling evidence showing positive traits)
King v. State, 894 N.E.2d 265 (Ind. Ct. App. 2008) (focus is whether imposed sentence is inappropriate, not whether another would be better)