Former group home worker gets 13 years for abusing mentally disabled man

SOUTH BEND -- Emphasizing an abuse of trust between a caretaker and a mentally disabled man, a judge sentenced a former group home worker to 10 years in prison for sexually abusing a special needs resident of the home.

St. Joseph Superior Court Judge Elizabeth Hurley sentenced Lance Anglin, 51, to 13 years, but suspended three years and ordered probation.

Hurley also mandated Anglin register as a sex offender and have no contact with the victim in the case.

Anglin admitted in August to criminal deviate conduct, a class B felony that carries a possible maximum punishment of 20 years in prison.

Court documents say Anglin forced a 49-year-old man to perform oral sex on him in July of 2013 when the two were alone in the group home.

The documents say the man was too disabled to give consent.

Anglin was a direct support professional at one of five local group homes run by Mosaic of Northern Indiana, but the company fired him after the allegation.

The man's mother told police  her son told her about the oral sex when she picked him up from the home.

During a police interview, Anglin admitted he told the man how to perform the sex act, as he wouldn’t have known what to do otherwise.

Anglin was taken into custody after the court hearing, as he remained out on bond during the pending case.