CAMBY, Ind. — Court documents reveal that when a wife became suspicious that her husband was cheating on her, she stole his phone to search for proof.
What she allegedly found on the phone, however, was far worse than infidelity.
Paul M. Soots, 42, is charged with 22 counts related to child molestation including several Level 1 felonies — the most serious criminal charge in Indiana outside of murder.
According to court documents, Hendricks County Sheriff’s deputies were called to Soots’ Camby home on March 22, 2023. Once deputies arrived, they were confronted by Soots’ wife who revealed her startling discovery.
Soots’ wife, who has since divorced him, told police she suspected her husband had been cheating on her so ended up searching his phone for proof. Located on the phone, however, were videos even more appalling, court documents claim.
Deputies reported reviewing the content of the phone and said images and video contained Soots committing sex acts on a child.
Deputies reportedly confronted Soots, who was asleep on the couch. He admitted the phone was his and deputies took him into custody.
Soot was scheduled to go to trial on June 24. The trial has been canceled, however, after Soot agreed to sign a plea deal where he would plead guilty to one count of child molestation as a Level 1 felony and one count of child molestation as a Level 5 felony.
The plea agreement includes a prison term of 50 years.
A hearing is set for Wednesday where the plea agreement will be submitted to the court. The judge has until Aug. 3 to either accept the plea deal or deny it and schedule a new jury trial date.
