Published: May 16, 2008 11:02 am         

Ex-con child killer gets max

LAPORTE — A man released from prison after serving 40 years for killing two young siblings received an eight-year sentence Thursday for child molesting.

Richard Dobeski, 59, received the maximum sentence despite steadfastly telling a judge he did not molest a 7-year-old Westville boy.

“I didn’t do anything,” said Dobeski, 59.

“That is how our system works,” LaPorte Circuit Judge Tom Alevizos replied.

Deputy Prosecutor Jennifer Evans argued for the maximum sentence, saying Dobeski molested several young girls before the killings.

“He is a serious threat to the community,” Evans said.

The victim in the latest case testified at trial he often visited Dobeski in his home where they wrestled and built a model airplane together. One time, the boy said, Dobeski pulled down his shorts and fondled him.

Dobeski was also charged in Pulaski County in August after allegedly offering $50 to a young boy to allow him to pose for photos at a beach near Monterey.

The Pulaski County arrest occurred on Aug. 31, exactly 43 years to the day after Dobeski was sentenced to two life sentences for murder.

Dobeski was 16 in 1964 when he was convicted in the slayings of 3-year-old Cary Robert Johnston and his sister, Shawn Elizabeth Johnston, 6, of Long Beach. He received two life sentences.

The children were found in a crawl space underneath Dobeski’s home in Long Beach, just east of Michigan City.

In 1984, during an appeal, Dobeski agreed to a deal that reduced the life sentence to two 40-year terms. The murdered children’s parents, who had moved from the Michigan City area, were unaware Dobeski had been granted a sentence modification.

The Indiana Supreme Court ruled in November 2000 that Dobeski's new sentencing arrangement must stand, allowing him to be eligible for parole. Dobeski was released from prison in 2003.

Dobeski still faces a June 9 trial on a charge of felony possession of child pornography.