Former Arkansas prison chaplain's sex-assault trial set

Former prison chaplin Kenneth Dewitt is shown in this file photo.
Former prison chaplin Kenneth Dewitt is shown in this file photo.

NEWPORT -- Prosecutors will try a former prison chaplain charged with 50 counts of sexual assault involving three female inmates in Jackson County Circuit Court on Aug. 11, said Prosecuting Attorney Henry Boyce.

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Circuit Judge Harold Erwin of Newport set the trial date after a brief hearing Wednesday.

Kenneth Dewitt, 67, of Patterson was arrested in December and released on a $30,000 bond after pleading innocent.

Police accuse Dewitt, who was the prison chaplain at the Arkansas Department of Corrections McPherson Unit for women in Newport, of having sexual relationships with three inmates.

The charges are for acts between January 2013 and September 2014. The Arkansas State Police and the Department of Correction's Internal Affairs section conducted a yearlong investigation into Dewitt before seeking charges.

Dewitt's attorney, Jeff Rosenzweig of Little Rock, requested Wednesday that Erwin join three cases against Dewitt -- each involving one of the inmates -- and the judge agreed.

"This means we will have one chance to try [Dewitt] instead of three," Boyce said.

Boyce said the jury trial will last about two days, but Erwin scheduled extra days during the following week in August if it ran longer.

State Desk on 06/23/2016

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