Dubois County men sentenced in child sex offense cases

Dubois County courts have kept handing down prison terms in child sex offense cases, with 51-year-old Roy Stearns of Holland receiving a 12-year sentence after a negotiated plea to six counts of possession of child sex abuse material, also described in court records as child abuse material.

Under the plea agreement, Stearns will serve seven years in the Indiana Department of Correction followed by five years on supervised probation. The sentence adds another high-profile conviction to a stretch of cases that prosecutors say reflects a sustained push to hold offenders accountable in felony child protection cases.

That effort also showed up in Dubois Circuit Court in the case of Brian E. Gentry, 46, who pleaded guilty on Feb. 25, 2025, to three counts of child molesting. Dubois County prosecutors said they secured multiple convictions in the early months of 2025 in high-level felony cases involving child molestation and possession of child pornography, underscoring how often these cases have moved through the local system.

The pattern reaches back several years. In 2023, Joshua Govea of Jasper was sentenced to 30 years after a jury convicted him of child molesting. In 2020, Nathan C. Albrecht of Ferdinand was sentenced to 30 years after being convicted on two counts of child molesting. Together, the cases show Dubois County judges and prosecutors repeatedly using long prison sentences in some of the most serious child protection cases brought in the county.

For families worried about abuse or exploitation, the Dubois County Department of Child Services office is in Jasper at 1045 Wernsing Road. The office’s child abuse and neglect hotline, 1-800-800-5556, is staffed 24 hours a day. The county’s recurring court outcomes and its around-the-clock reporting line together form the core of the local response when child safety is at stake.