New charge added to Aug. 31 trial for former Spencerville mayor
Jul. 27—LIMA — Former Spencerville Mayor Phillip Briggs, indicted earlier this month on a new charge related to his alleged videotaping of two teenage girls in various stages of undress, will stand trial Aug. 31 in Allen County Common Pleas Court.
Judge Jeffrey Reed will preside over the trial to the court and will render a verdict once testimony is complete.
A pre-trial hearing for Briggs on the new charge was scheduled for Thursday but resulted only in attorneys talking behind closed doors. The two cases against Briggs will be joined for purposes of trial.
Briggs, 45, is accused of recording two teenage girls in various stages of undress at a residence in Spencerville on five separate occasions between May 6 and June 17 of 2022.
He was indicted by a grand jury in March on five charges of the illegal use of a minor in nudity-oriented material, each felonies of the second degree.
An indictment with an additional count, identical to the others, was handed down by the grand jury earlier this month.
Detectives from the Allen County Sheriff's Office arrested the former mayor on Jan. 30 after interviewing him and the two girls, and conducting search warrants at a home and on a laptop.
Briggs resigned as mayor on Feb. 3 at the request of the Spencerville village council. Council President Darrell Pugin took his place.
Briggs remains incarcerated in the Allen County jail under $200,000 bond.
