MANSFIELD — Accused child pornographer Bryce Witchey will mark his one-year anniversary inside the Richland County Jail on June 14 with no clear date set for trial.
Richland County Common Pleas Court Judge Brent Robinson on Thursday granted another trial continuance from defense attorney Bernie Davis, according to online court records.
No new date for the jury trial, which had been scheduled to begin June 5, was listed in the updated case file.
Davis filed his continuance motion on May 22, writing that, “The reason for said request is because more time is needed in this matter.”
(Below is a PDF showing the May 22 court filing seeking a continuance in the Bryce Witchey trial in Richland County Common Pleas Court.)
It’s the second time Davis has successfully sought to have the trial delayed. The veteran defense attorney took the case in December after former defense Attorney Rolf Whitney became a magistrate in Morrow County.
Davis filed a motion for a delay March 28 after a hearing during which Robinson ruled the 29-year-old Mansfield man was competent to stand trial.
“The reason for said request is because this is a complex case and defense counsel needs sufficient time to investigate it,” Davis said in that request to delay the trial.
Witchey, initially arrested June 14 by Mansfield police after a woman claimed he was talking to her via social media and seeking sex with her 8-year-old daughter, remains in the Richland County Jail on a $500,000 cash or surety bond.
That arrest led to an initial charge of attempted importuning, a fourth-degree felony.
Witchey was later also indicted by a county grand jury on 30 counts of illegal use of a minor or impaired person in nudity-oriented material or performance and the single count of attempted importuning.
Fifteen of the other 30 counts are second-degree felonies while 15 others are fifth-degree felonies.
Prosecutors say the alleged crimes happened between April 2023 and June 2024.
