Despite a judge’s insistence there be no more continuance, the case against a 67-year-old Nashville man accused of sex crimes against a child has been continued.
Van Dale Stueart, who resides in Hempstead County but has a Nashville address, is facing felony charges of sexually grooming a child and sexual indecency with a child. The charges were filed in May in Hempstead County Circuit Court.
An Nov. 9 pretrial date had been set for the case with a trial date set for Dec. 7 in Hempstead County, but Monday the case was continued until Nov. 23.
Stueart was official charged on May 18. According to case information, the alleged incident for which he is charged happened between Sept. 1 and Sept. 30, 2014.
He is accused of knowingly disseminating to a child 13 years of age or younger with or without consideration “a visual or print medium depicting sexually explicit conduct with the purpose to entice, induce or groom the child to engage in sexual intercourse and/or sexually explicit conduct and/or deviate sexual activity,” according to court records.
The crime is a Class D felony which carries a prison term of up to six years and a fine not to exceed $10,000 or both.
Stueart is also accused of sexual indecency for causing or coercing “another person who was less than 14 years of age to expose her sex organs with the purpose to arouse or gratify a sexual desire of himself.”
The crime is also a Class D felony.
On May 19, Stueart made an appearance in Hempstead County Circuit Court and waived formal arraignment before pleading not guilty to the charges.
