From The Times Tribune -
A London man who was arrested in March for allegedly possessing material containing a minor performing sexual acts was jailed again Friday following his arraignment.
Andrew Dick, 28, appeared in Laurel Circuit Court for his arraignment, where a not guilty plea was entered on his behalf by his public defender, Kara Ottis. Dick faces 10 counts of possession of matter portraying a sexual performance by a minor and second-degree persistent felony offender, which a Laurel County grand jury indicted him on last month.
During the proceedings, Judge Michael Caperton took time to review the indictment further, pointing specifically to the lone persistent felony offender count as a reason for concern. According to Dick’s indictment, that count comes as a result of a 2013 conviction Dick received in United States Military Court in Japan for charges of wrongful possession of child pornography.
Dick was released from jail in April after posting a $10,000 cash bond, which he stated in court Friday had been paid on his behalf. As part of his conditions for release, he was to not have any further violations and was prohibited from any use of electronic devices. Judge Caperton questioned whether or not those conditions were being properly followed.
“How are those being monitored?” Judge Caperton asked Ottis.
“I don’t know,” she responded.
“Then that’s a problem,” he replied.
Ottis argued that there were no grounds for Dick to have his bond revoked because there was no proof or even allegations that he had not been adhering to the conditions of his bond. Ultimately, however, Ottis’ arguments were not enough.
“Upon reading more on the PFO (persistent felony offender) and what it’s based on, I’m increasing his bond,” said Judge Caperton.
A public safety finding was issued and Dick’s bond was increased to $25,000 cash. Dick was taken into custody in the courtroom and has since been jailed in the Laurel County Correctional Facility.
He is scheduled to return to court for a pretrial conference July 11 at 9 a.m.
Dick was initially arrested March 28 by Kentucky State Police as the result of an undercover Internet Crimes Against Children investigation, which according to a press release from KSP, began after discovering Dick had uploaded files of child sexual exploitation online.
As a result of the investigation, a search warrant was executed at Dick’s Skyline View residence. Inside the home, police found equipment they believe was used to facilitate the crime. The equipment was seized by police and taken to the KSP Crime Lab for examination.
He was indicted May 17 in connection to the incident.