UPDATE: The continuance was granted Wednesday. A new trial date has been set for May 2023.
MIAMI COUNTY, Ind. – Kegan Kline is asking for a delay in his trial.
Kline, who faces more than two dozen counts related to a child pornography investigation, requested that his trial be pushed back until May 2023, according to a motion filed this week in Miami County Circuit Court.
As it stands, Kline is scheduled to go on trial in January 2023, with the final pretrial conference set for Dec. 22, 2022. In the motion, his attorney indicated that the “parties are currently engaged in negotiations” and requested a continuance.
Prosecutor Peter T. Diedrichs was aware of the request and had no objection to the motion, according to the filing.
This is the second significant development in the case in recent days. Last week, prosecutors asked a judge to drop five of the 30 child pornography-related charges he faced, a request the court granted on Monday.
Prosecutors asked for the dismissal because they had insufficient evidence to “prove said counts beyond a reasonable doubt at trial.”
Prosecutors said Kline used a fake profile called “anthony_shots” to communicate with more than a dozen underage girls in order to solicit photos.
While he has never been charged or named as a suspect in the Delphi murders of Abby Williams and Libby German, he has become associated with the case after it came to light the “anthony_shots” profile had communicated Libby German.
Police searched Kline’s home in Miami County on Feb. 25, 2017, less than two weeks after the Delphi murders. In recent months, divers have searched a section of the Wabash River near Kline’s home, although investigators haven’t indicated what they were looking for.
On Oct. 31, Indiana State Police announced the arrest of Richard Allen on two counts of murder in the Delphi case.
