A new sexual abuse trial date has been set for the former stepfather of Katelin Akens, the Spotsylvania County, Virginia, woman who disappeared in 2015 at the age of 19.
Prosecutors and investigators have long said that James Branton was the last person to see her alive.
Branton, 46, was scheduled to stand trial July 24. He’s now set to go to trial Sept. 24 to allow enough time for both the prosecution and defense to sort through all the evidence in the case.
Branton pleaded not guilty after being charged with multiple sex offenses, which allegedly occurred while Akens, her younger sister and her mother lived with Branton from 2006 through 2011.
Shortly after Branton’s April 10 arrest, Spotsylvania County Commonwealth鈥檚 Attorney Ryan Mehaffey told the judge that recently learned evidence demonstrated 鈥渢he potential motive of Mr. Branton to kill Miss Akens.鈥�
That was the first time prosecutors said in court and in court filings that they believe Akens is dead.
鈥滽atelin was afraid of Branton when she was alive,鈥� Mehaffey told Circuit Court Judge Ricardo Rigual on April 21.
Sheriff鈥檚 investigators and prosecutors have not revealed any evidence to suggest that Akens is dead. In the week after his arrest, crime scene technicians searched Branton鈥檚 home on a secluded, wooded property on Oak Crest Drive in Partlow, using front loaders and other heavy equipment.
On the day she was last seen, Akens was set to fly to Arizona. A family member dropped Akens off at Branton’s house with the understanding that Branton would give Akens a ride to Springfield Mall, where she would take the Metro to Reagan National Airport.
This week, with the abuse trial date nearing, prosecutors and defense filed a joint motion, saying “the parties are diligently engaging in voluminous discovery,” and asking for the trial to be delayed.
Branton will remain behind bars until his new trial date in September.
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