MANSFIELD — Bryce Witchey is apparently still not ready for his day in court, even after more than a year behind bars.
A criminal trial for the 29-year-old Mansfield man has again been delayed at the request of defense attorney Bernie Davis.
It’s now pushed back to Sept. 22 at 9 a.m., according to Richland County Common Pleas Court online records.
Judge Brent Robinson approved the defense attorney’s request on July 14, according to court records, though a pretrial conference is scheduled for Tuesday at 8:45 a.m.
(Below is a Richland County Common Pleas Court entry showing the ordered delay of the criminal trial of Bryce Witchey.)
The most recently scheduled trial date had been June 5.
It’s the third 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.
Witchey, initially arrested June 14, 2024, 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 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.
