LIMA — The trial for a 62-year-old man accused of sex crimes against girls and facing life in prison was pushed back Wednesday to Aug. 22 to give his attorney more time to prepare a defense.
Ronald Payne, of 3437 N. West St., agreed to waive his right to a speedy trial to push back his trial. Judge David Cheney of Allen County Common Pleas Court, set a pretrial hearing for July 21 and two suppression hearings, one for June 6 to consider whether to suppress evidence seized in a search warrant and another for June 8 to decide whether to throw out statements Payne made to police.
Payne is facing 53 criminal charges: rape, three counts of attempted rape, 12 counts of gross sexual imposition, another count of gross sexual imposition, two counts of trafficking in persons, 17 counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance, and 17 other counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.
The crimes occurred between Jan. 1, 2014, and Jan. 27, 2015. One of the victims was a 12-year-old girl when the crimes began, and the other was a 15-year-old girl, said Terri Kohlrieser, an assistant Allen County prosecutor.
Some of the charges carry up to life in prison as the maximum sentence, Kohlrieser said.
The illegal use of a minor charges accuse Payne of obtaining child pornography on his phone, transferring it to his computer, and saving the files, Kohlrieser said.
The children were not related to Payne. They were acquaintances, Kohlrieser said.
The trafficking charges accuse Payne of transporting the children somewhere else to engage in sexual activity and giving them some type of payment, Kohlrieser said.
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