A former staff member of the Baptist Children’s Home and Family Services was sentenced to 22 years in prison Nov. 3 in White County Circuit Court.
Daniel W. Lanning pled guilty to two counts of criminal sexual assault of a minor ages 13-17. He was arrested in April on four counts involving a teenager in his care at the Carmi facility. Two charges were dropped. The sentence is 11 years for each of the class 1 felony counts to run consecutively.
Lanning and his wife were house parents in a BCHFS cottage from July 2021 until the time of his arrest when his employment was terminated. His wife was not implicated in the investigation. Interim BCHFS Executive Director Doug Devore said a thorough background check was conducted at the time Lanning was hired with no incidents reported.
Lanning could have been sentenced from 8 to 30 years in prison without parole. He could be released after serving a minimum of 85% of the sentence.
–with info from Judici and WROY/WRUL