Share and Follow
Editor’s Note: This story contains discussions of child abuse that may be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised. If you suspect a child is being abused, find out how to report it in your state here. To connect with a counselor, you can call the National Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-422-4253.
ANDERSON, Ind. A former Madison County councilman, who has been wanted on a litany of child sex crimes, has finally been captured by police after being on the run for more than two years.
The Madison County Sheriff’s Department announced on Tuesday that Steve Sumner was captured in Winchester, Kentucky, by U.S. Marshals. Sumner has been on the lam since 2023.
Sumner, once a Madison County Councilman and a former preacher, resigned from his council seat in May 2021 after charges were filed against him in December of 2020. Sumner faces 18 counts of child molestation after being accused of performing sex acts on a girl. Images and photos of the nude child were also uncovered on his phone, court documents revealed.
After fleeing Indiana in 2023, investigators previously alerted the public about Sumner being spotted in the Gatlinburg, Tennessee, area. Police also stated back in 2023 that Sumner was being assisted by a woman named Sharon Bailey Wood Baker.
Despite this, Sumner continued living free until U.S. Marshals finally caught up with him recently in Kentucky. Sumner was alone at the time of his capture and was driving a blue 2010 Toyota Yaris.
Sumner will be transported to Madison County Jail. He faces up to 40 plus years in prison on his Level 1 felony charges.
