A jury trial has been scheduled for a Meeker man facing a sexual abuse charge with a child under 12.
Two felony charges of sexual abuse with a child under 12 were originally filed April 4 against Jason Stuart Kirkwood, 42. A $100,000 bench warrant was initially issued for his arrest the same day the charges were filed in Lincoln County District Court.
During a bond reduction hearing on April 14, Special Judge Emily Mueller agreed to reduce the bond to $10,000.
At the conclusion of his preliminary hearing in September, he was bound over to stand trial on an amended single charge of lewd acts with a minor child.
Special Judge Emily Mueller scheduled his arraignment for 9:30 a.m. on Nov. 15.
On Nov. 15 during his arraignment, he entered a plea of not guilty. District Judge Cindy Ashwood received the plea scheduled his trial for 9 a.m. on Feb. 6, 2023. She set the cause for the felony disposition docket at 9:30 a.m. Jan. 17.
The judge allowed the defendant 30 days from Nov. 15 to file a motion to quash. Kirkwood acknowledged the charges and that it’s an 85 percent crime.
The felony charge allegedly occurred on Feb. 28 this year at a residence on South SH 99 in the city of Prague.
In a probable cause affidavit filed in the case, Lincoln County Deputy Sheriff George Kelly Coleman states Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detective Larry Stover relayed information to him that he had received from DHS.
Stover advised Coleman that a forensic interview had been conducted with the children involved in the case and that DHS had set up an interview to determine if drugs had been used in the presence of the children.
The affidavit notes that during a previous law enforcement contact at the residence, a search warrant had been served for illegal drugs and drug paraphernalia.