A scheduled Feb. 13 jury trial for Paul Bowman, charged with 17 sex-related counts that include rape and gross sexual imposition, has been moved to May after the Lima man waived his right to a speedy trial on Friday.
J Swygart | The Lima News
LIMA — A Lima man charged with the serial rape of a minor over a span of a decade on Friday waived his constitutional right to a speedy trial.
Paul Bowman, 48, was indicted by an Allen County grand jury in November on 11 counts of rape and six counts of sexual battery for incidents that prosecutors allege took place between December 2012 and August 2023.
The indictment states that the victim in several of the counts was under the age of 13 and that Bowman “purposely compelled the victim to submit by force or threat of force.”
During a brief appearance Friday before Allen County Common Pleas Court Judge Jeffrey Reed, Bowman softly answered “yes, I do” when asked if he agreed to a continuance of his scheduled Feb. 13 jury trial.
Steve Chamberlain of the Allen County Public Defenders Office requested the trial date be pushed back “due to the nature of the allegations” and the amount of discovery he must go through to adequately represent Bowman.
Reed granted the continuance and set a tentative new trial date for May 21.
