HOLTON, Kan. – A Kansas man already convicted of raping two women and acquitted in the sexual assault of a 13-year-old girl won't face additional rape charges, but will stand trial in relation to explicit images of an underage girl that authorities found via his Facebook profile.
The Topeka Capital-Journal reports that Jacob Ewing will go on trial in October on charges that include attempted rape and in November on 10 felony counts of sexual exploitation of a child. District Judge Norbert Marek ruled during a sometimes heated hearing Thursday that a jury should decide if Ewing knowingly viewed the sexually explicit images of a 17-year-old girl.
Allegations that Ewing, a former state football champion, sexually assaulted five women and a teenager have divided the small town of Holton, where his family is well known. Finding jurors whose minds weren't already made up complicated the first two cases at trial. During the latest hearing, victim coordinator Lisa Hyten requested security after one of Ewing's relatives used profanity and accused her of being too close.
During the hearing in Jackson County, Kansas, Marek dismissed charges of rape scheduled for trial in August at the request of special prosecutor Jacqie Spradling, who called one of his accusers during the June trial that ended with his conviction of rape and sodomy of two other women. Double jeopardy standards in Kansas prevent prosecution of pending charges if those cases are used as evidence in an earlier trial.
Defense attorney Kathleen Ambrosio sought to have Ewing retried to try to overturn those June convictions, but Marek denied the request. Sentencing in that case is set for Sept. 1.
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Information from: The Topeka (Kan.) Capital-Journal, http://www.cjonline.com
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