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WARREN -- A former Vienna man now in federal custody and accused of a variety of sex offenses appeared Friday before Trumbull County Common Pleas Judge Peter J. Kontos to schedule a new trial.
Jeffrey Judd, 63, is charged with one count of rape with a potential life without parole sentence, three counts of gross sexual imposition, one count of dissemination of matter harmful to juveniles and two counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material or performance.
Through his lawyer, John Juhasz, Judd waived his right to a speedy trial for 180 days. In Ohio, defendants must be tried within 270 days if not incarcerated on that charge.
Kontos set the trial date for July 11. A final pretrial hearing for Judd is set for June 13, where any plea offers can be refused or accepted by the defense.
According to the indictment, the offenses took place in January 2019, and the victim was an almost 5-year-old girl relative at the time.
Kontos in late January overruled a bid for the defense to suppress evidence in the case.
At the Nov. 12, 2021, evidence suppression hearing, the court heard two witnesses from the FBI and from the defendant. In that hearing, the defense took issue with issuing a search warrant by a magistrate's reliance on hearsay statements. The judge, however, ruled the prosecution had probable cause for the warrants.
Also the defense wanted to suppress any evidence taken from the defendant's cellular phone.
Judd, who lists a Roberts Street address in Vienna, is now serving a four-year sentence after being convicted in August of 2019 of a federal charge of traveling across state lines with intent to engage in illegal sexual activity with a minor. He is housed in Fort Dix Federal Prison in New Jersey.
In the federal case, Judd was arrested by FBI agents on Feb. 22, 2019, close to 21 months after he drove from Vienna to Hermitage, Pa., to meet with a 14-year-old boy, whom he had met on a "Chathour" app, to purportedly have sex. Upon driving to the Hickory High School parking lot, court documents written by Judd's attorney state the man decided against the meeting at the high school and subsequently drove back to Ohio.
The boy reported the incident to a school counselor, who then notified the students' parents, who then called Hermitage police.
The FBI eventually assumed the investigative lead in that case, and during that investigation, the sex offenses against the girl came to light, court documents state.
After completing his federal term, court records show Judd is subject to seven years of supervised release.