Ex-Fort Wayne parole officer gets 2 years in sexual misconduct case with teen

FORT WAYNE, Indiana (WANE) – A former Fort Wayne probation officer has been convicted in a count in which he pleaded guilty to sexual interaction with a teenager.

The Allen Superior Court judge on Friday sentenced 41-year-old Branden D. Shaw to five years in prison, three of which were suspended.

In November, Shaw pleaded guilty in Allen Superior Court to one count of sexual misconduct with a minor and one count of vicarious sexual gratification. Now he will face a total of two years in prison as part of a plea deal in which he admitted having had sexual contact with an underage boy.

According to court documents, Shaw was charged with giving alcohol to a boy under the age of 16, showing him pornography, and then having sex with the boy and another teenager in August 2020. Shaw was a former probation officer in Fort Wayne with the Indiana Department of Corrections.

Shaw was also originally charged with distributing substances harmful to minors and a misdemeanor for supplying alcohol to a minor. Both of those charges were dismissed under the plea agreement.