The jury trial against an alleged sexual abuser in Greene County will be moved to another county.

Wednesday, District Court Judge Kurt Stoebe granted the motion from Defense Attorney Daniel Gonnerman to change the venue of the trial against 46-year-old James Hubert Exline who is accused of sexually abusing his 12-year-old daughter Paige Exline, before she died in a house fire in Guthrie Center on May 12th. Exline is charged with a Class A Felony for his second or subsequent offense for second degree sexual abuse and a Class C Felony for third degree sexual abuse.

Jury selection started on Tuesday, after Judge Stoebe expanded the jury pool from 65 to 79. Assistant Greene County Attorney Thomas Lahne was second chair for the prosecution and says they had 21 jurors left to interview, while keeping 32 in their pool, before the judge granted the motion for a change of venue. Lahne believes juries are the safeguard for our country’s justice system.

“I think it’s important, when possible, to have members of our community, of our county, serve on juries when crimes are committed in our county. It’s best to have the citizens of this county determine guilt or innocence when it affects us and our families.”

Lahne adds that the venue and trial date hasn’t been set yet. However, Exline denied his right to a speedy trial, which means, there’s no time limit of when the trial could be heard by a jury.

James’s son Noah faces similar charges for allegedly sexually assaulting Paige. Noah is charged with  seven Class B Felonies for second degree sexual abuse. According to court documents, Noah’s trial date has been rescheduled to March 26, 2018. James’s stepson, Patrick Thompson is the only suspect charged in the Guthrie Center house fire. He faces felonies for murder, attempted murder and arson. Online court records show, Thompson pled not guilty to the charges and will have a pre-trial hearing on April 9, 2018.