A man pleaded guilty in the rape of an elderly Greenwood woman earlier this year and now faces up to 64 years in prison.
Ira Link, 43, Beech Grove, pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, including two counts of rape, burglary, criminal confinement and being a repeat sexual offender, according to a news release from the Johnson County Prosecutor’s Office.
Based on his history and this case, Prosecutor Brad Cooper is planning on seeking the maximum sentence for Link, he said. Link previously had been convicted of two counts of child molestation after raping a 9-year-old at knifepoint, Cooper said. He served nearly 21 years in prison and was released in June 2014.
“We will be seeking as much time as we can possibly get for him,” Cooper said.
In May, a Greenwood woman told police she answered the door of her Valle Vista home, and a man forced his way inside. He demanded jewelry, which she said she didn’t have. He told her he wanted to go upstairs to look, where he beat her, threatened to kill her and raped her.
When he left, the man left his jacket and cash the woman gave him behind. The woman watched him leave and then called a neighbor for help.
Days later, Link told his mother he was going to hurt himself and that he had raped an elderly woman in Greenwood. Link’s mother called police in Beech Grove, who contacted police in Greenwood.
Link matched the description of the rapist, including multiple tattoos on his legs. And his mother has a vehicle that matched one caught on surveillance video in the neighborhood around the time of the rape, police said.
This week, he pleaded guilty to all the charges against him, avoiding a trial. The guilty plea was a relief to the victim, according to a news release from the prosecutor’s office.
Link is set for sentencing in February.
