A Columbia City man is behind bars after allegedly fondling a 3-year-old Claypool girl.

The Kosciusko County Sheriff’s Department responded to a Claypool home, Monday evening, around 11:30 in regards to possible molestation.

At the scene, the mother of a 3-year-old girl told police that she had left her 3 and 4-year-old children with the brother of a family friend in her home while she and the friend went shopping. When she returned home, she discovered her 3-year-old had apparently been inappropriately touched in the genital area by her friend's brother, Zachery Robert Roderick Walsh.

Officers spoke with the child separately. The child told police Walsh had touched her in a bedroom, away from her 4-year-old sister.

Walsh was taken to the Kosciusko County Sheriff's Department where he allegedly confessed to inappropriately touching the child. Walsh was arrested and preliminarily charged with child molesting, fondling, or touching a child under the age of 14. He is currently being held in the Kosciusko County Jail on a $100,000.00 bond.

The Kosciusko County Prosecutor’s Office advises that the defendant’s charge is merely an accusation and that the defendant is presumed innocent until proven guilty in a court of law.