Judge: Jury trials not on the calendar for forseeable future
It won’t be until October at the earliest before Butler County holds a jury trial.
Jury trials were put on hold the week of March 16 due to COVID-19.
Judge William Shaffer, acting Common Pleas Court administrative judge, made the assessment Tuesday during a hearing for Keith R. Callen, 49, who is accused of sexually abusing young girls.
Callen, who allegedly committed the acts during his time as a gymnastics coach between 1998 and 2000, appeared for the hearing by video from a state prison in Albion, where he is serving a 2-to-4 years sentence for sexual abuse.
Last summer, Callen pleaded guilty in Allegheny County to aggravated indecent assault, sex assault by a sports official, unlawful contact and corruption of minors.
Callen faces similar charges in Butler County, and during Tuesday’s hearing arguments were heard to determine future proceedings. Callen initially was charged in 2016, about 15 years after the alleged offenses.
Callen’s lawyer, David Chontos, argued Tuesday that prosecutors didn’t have evidence to support part of their case.
Chontos asked Shaffer when he expected to hold trials in the county again.
This is an excerpt from a larger article that appears in Wednesday’s Butler Eagle.
