Cops: youth leader tried to hire hitman

GREENDWOOD, Ind. (WISH) - A former Greenwood youth leader accused of having sex with minors is now facing a conspiracy to commit murder charge after allegedly trying to hire someone to kill witnesses in the original case against him.

Jonathan Hartman was arrested in April when police allege he confessed to having sex with three, 15-year-old girls, one of whom was even pregnant.

The new charges against Hartman stem from a conversation with a fellow inmate in the Johnson County Jail. Prosecutors say Hartman tried to get the inmate to kill the witnesses who were slated to testify against him in court. Police say he also tried to have that inmate kill the child of one of Hartman’s alleged victim’s, believing that the child might be his.

Hartman allegedly told the inmate a friend would give him a gun to use in the killings and that it would serve as down payment. The inmate would be given $50,000 after the hits were made.