Brian Smith
A preliminary hearing was continued Wednesday in the case of a Berea College student accused of using text messages to solicit sex from a 14-year-old girl.
Sarah E. Wilson, 20, is charged with unlawful use of electronic means to induce a minor to engage in sexual activity and third-degree unlawful transaction with a minor for the alleged incident.
Wilson appeared briefly in Madison District Court for what was scheduled to be a preliminary hearing in the case, but Madison County Attorney Marc Robbins asked for the continuance to take more time to interview Detective LeAnn Boyle of the Berea Police Department about the case.
Berea police were contacted after Wilson allegedly sent text messages to the girl asking to meet her, and an officer posed as the girl and responded to the messages, according to court records.
The messages Wilson allegedly sent to the detective discussed sexual activity, and asked the girl to meet Wilson at her dorm room in Elizabeth Rogers Residence Hall on the college’s campus.
Senior Judge David Hayse, sitting in for Madison District Judge Charles Hardin, did agree to amend Wilson’s bond from $10,000 cash to a $5,000 cash or property bond.
Under the terms of the bond, Wilson would be barred from owning or using any electronic communications device, including a computer or cellular phone, and may not have any contact with a minor.
Hayse redocketed the case for a Dec. 16 hearing.
Robbery suspect
Hayse declined to make any change to the bond amount for a Berea man charged with second-degree robbery in an alleged shoplifting incident at a Richmond store.
Charles Lear, 41, remains lodged in the Madison County Detention Center in lieu of a $5,000 cash bond on the charge after being arrested last week.
Lear allegedly shoved a clerk at Peddlers Mall on the Eastern Bypass as he attempted to flee with a pair of boots that were allegedly stolen from a vendor at the mall, Richmond police said after Lear’s arrest.
A preliminary hearing on the charge was continued to Dec. 2.
Brian Smith may be reached at bsmith@richmondregister.com or at 624-6694.
