## Facts

- Marybeth Lebo was the varsity volleyball coach at LaPorte High School and supervised the junior varsity coach, Robert Ashcraft.
- As a school coach, Lebo was a mandated reporter of suspected child abuse under Indiana law.
- From August 2007 to October 2008, Ashcraft sexually abused K.T., a minor student volleyball player.
- Lebo allegedly observed and received reports of multiple instances of inappropriate conduct between Ashcraft and K.T. but did not report suspected abuse to authorities.
- Lebo allegedly instructed players not to disclose Ashcraft’s conduct, including not telling parents.
- Ashcraft resigned on October 28, 2008; police began investigating the relationship in November 2008.
- In January 2010, Indiana State Police investigated whether school staff knew of the abuse and failed to report it; they reviewed case materials, more than 100,000 school emails, and conducted interviews.
- The investigative report was submitted to prosecutors on October 23, 2010, indicating Lebo knew of abuse but failed to report.
- In September 2011, the State charged Lebo with misdemeanor failure to report child abuse or neglect.
- Lebo moved to dismiss, asserting the two-year misdemeanor statute of limitations had run and the charging informations were insufficiently specific; the trial court denied the motion.

## Issues

1. Whether a misdemeanor charge for failure to report child abuse was time-barred, or instead constituted a continuing offense and/or was subject to tolling under a concealment exception.
2. Whether the charging informations, considered with probable-cause hearing testimony, were sufficiently specific to provide notice and permit preparation of a defense.

## Decision

- The Court of Appeals of Indiana affirmed the denial of Lebo’s motion to dismiss.
- The court held failure to report suspected child abuse by a mandated reporter is a continuing offense, so the statute of limitations did not bar prosecution.
- Alternatively, the court held Lebo’s alleged instruction to players not to disclose Ashcraft’s conduct was sufficient concealment to toll the limitations period.
- The court held the informations, together with probable-cause testimony, stated sufficiently specific facts to inform Lebo of the charge and allow her to prepare a defense.

## Legal Principles

- A statutory duty to report suspected child abuse may create a continuing offense: the violation persists as long as the mandated reporter fails to report after having reason to believe abuse occurred.
- Indiana’s misdemeanor limitations period may be tolled when the defendant conceals the offense; conduct aimed at suppressing disclosure can qualify as concealment.
- A charging information must provide adequate notice of the nature of the accusation and protection against double jeopardy; courts may assess specificity in light of probable-cause hearing evidence when evaluating a pretrial dismissal motion.

## Conclusion

The court allowed the prosecution to proceed, ruling that a mandated reporter’s failure to report suspected child abuse can be treated as ongoing for limitations purposes, and that alleged efforts to keep students silent can independently toll limitations; it also found the charging documents sufficiently specific when read with the probable-cause record.


Lebo v. State, 977 N.E.2d 1031 (Ind. Ct. App. 2012)