-
May 21, 2008 5:19 pm US/Mountain
-
Digg |
Facebook |
E-mail
|
Print
Aaron Thompson Plea Delayed At Request Of Defense
CENTENNIAL, Colo. (AP) ―
An Aurora man charged with fatal child abuse in the disappearance of his young daughter won't enter a plea until next month.
Aaron Thompson was scheduled to enter his plea on Wednesday, but his arraignment was pushed back to June 25 to give prosecutors and defense attorneys more time to schedule his trial. A Nov. 3 date was tentatively set for Thompson's trial, the earliest time his defense can be ready, said his attorney James O'Connor.
Thompson reported his daughter Aarone missing in November 2005, when she would have been 6. However, police halted a search for Aarone days after she was reported missing and named Thompson and his girlfriend, Shely Lowe, as persons of interest in the case.
Investigators say they believe Aarone may have died as early as 2003, but her body has not been found.
A handcuffed Thompson, dressed in a light blue shirt and gray trousers, sat quietly with his attorneys during Wednesday's court proceedings in Arapahoe County District Court.
The 60-count indictment against Thompson describes a violent home where Aarone and seven other children were allegedly beaten with a baseball bat, belts, cords, a broomstick or a magazine. One child at the home told police Aarone was locked in a closet for hours as punishment for wetting herself.
The indictment said Aarone was malnourished and wasn't given medical care. Court documents also allege that Aarone was buried in a field and that Thompson and his girlfriend, Shely Lowe, concealed her death for two years.
Lowe, who died in May 2006 from heart problems, was also named in the indictment.
Details of the indictment were made public last month after The Denver Post and The Associated Press sued under open records laws.
Thompson, who is being held on $500,000 bond, faces up to 54 years in prison if convicted on all counts.
(© 2008 The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.)