Trial will go on as scheduled next month for former First United Methodist Church pastor Paige Williams and former daycare director Abby Leach, while sentencing for the two other suspects in the child abuse case is expected to be delayed.
Attorneys for Williams and Leach were in Christian Circuit Court Monday morning and Judge John Atkins denied a request from the defense to postpone trial due to an amendment to the original indictment, saying the new wording doesn’t change the overall circumstances of the case.
Special Prosecutor Blake Chambers has given notice he intends to play a recording at trial of Williams admitting to mistakes in the reporting of abuse during a meeting with parents soon after former daycare worker Allison Simpson was arrested.
Attorney David Bundrick represents Leach and intends to contest those recordings being presented, saying the statements were made during the ongoing criminal investigation and shouldn’t be admissible.
Judge Atkins gave the attorneys a week to file any additional response and he’ll take it back up at a hearing on July 18.
A jury convicted Simpson of 12 counts of first-degree criminal abuse and 12 counts of third-degree criminal child abuse at the end of a trial last month, but they were unable to a come to an agreement on a sentence for the felonies.
They convicted former daycare worker Nina Morgan for one count of third-degree criminal child abuse—a misdemeanor—and Judge Atkins preliminarily sentenced her to a year in jail, pending final sentencing when the jury couldn’t agree on a sentence for her.
Judge Atkins on Monday said an issue has arisen that will delay formal sentencing Wednesday, calling it a “peculiarly legal issue” that cannot be disclosed to the general public at this time out of fear it could taint a potential jury pool for the next trial.
With the updated language in the amended indictment Chambers told lawyers the Commonwealth will only be presenting evidence that Leach and Williams failed in their legal duty to protect children in their care from abuse by Simpson.