The special judge presiding in the case of the former First United Methodist Church pastor and day care director accused of allowing child abuse by two day care employees has ruled to permit video surveillance recordings of the abuse to be played at trial.
Attorneys for former pastor Paige Williams and former day care director Abby Leach argued special commonwealth’s attorney Blake Chambers should have to lay a foundation showing a clear timetable of when and how their clients were notified of any alleged abuse in relation to the videos being recorded before they should be played at trial.
Bill Deatherage represents Williams and says without that clear correlation, he doesn’t believe the videos should be admissible as evidence.
Chambers says he’s likely to show the videos early in trial so the jury can see the acts of alleged abuse for themselves, but he’ll have witnesses who authenticate the parties involved.
Muhlenberg Circuit Judge Brian Wiggins ultimately ruled that while Chambers will have to lay some foundation to show those videos, he’ll ultimately be able to proceed mostly as he desires with that evidence.
Williams and Leach are accused of failing in their legal duty to protect children in their care from abuse. All of the victims in the case are infants, under one-year old. Both women are charged with eight counts of criminal abuse of a child under the age of 12.
Former worker Allison Simpson was convicted last year of 12 counts of first-degree criminal abuse and 12 counts of third-degree criminal child abuse. Former worker Nina Morgan was convicted of one count of criminal abuse in the third-degree, a misdemeanor.
Williams and Leach are set to go to trial on February 27.