Man convicted of neglect, drug possession charges in 4-year-old boy's death

UPDATE: Robert Geise was ordered to serve 40 years in the Indiana Department of Corrections for the neglect charge. It is to be served concurrently with the sentences with the drug charges, for which he was sentenced to one year and 180 days, respectively.

RUSHVILLE — A man has been found guilty in a case involving the death of a 4-year-old boy in September last year.

Robert S. Geise, the boyfriend of the child's mother, was convicted on three of the five counts against him, the most severe of which — a neglect charge — is a level 1 felony, online court records show.

A jury found Geise guilty of neglect of a dependent resulting in catastrophic injury as well as counts of possession of methamphetamine and possession of a device or substance used to interfere in a drug or alcohol screening.

He also faced two other counts: aggravated battery against a defendant less than 18 years old, of which he was found not guilty, and neglect of a dependent resulting in bodily injury, which was dismissed.

Geise was arrested late last year after the boy fell off an outdoor playset.

Emergency personnel responded to a 911 call after the boy fell and was unresponsive around 11:45 a.m. on Sept. 21, according to the Rush County Sheriff's Office. The boy died about an hour later at Rush Memorial Hospital.

The Rush County Coroner's Office determined the boy, Sylas A Fleix-Glass, died of blunt force injuries to the head and abdomen. The death was ruled a homicide.

Geise is scheduled for sentencing Sept. 19 at Rush Superior Court.

If convicted, he faces up to 20-40 years imprisonment on the neglect charge. The possession charges are a level 6 felony and a misdemeanor and therefore carry lesser penalties.