Trial delayed after new attorney hired

To give his new attorney more time to review the case, the man accused of trying to lure a Lawrence junior high student into a car now faces trial in September instead of next week.

Stephen R. Stout, 47, recently hired defense attorney Sarah Swain to represent him. When he was charged in December, J.C. Gilroy had been appointed to defend him on five felony charges.

Douglas County District Judge Michael Malone on Thursday morning agreed to give Swain more time to review the case.

Kevin Graham, an assistant Kansas attorney general, has accused Stout of trying to lure a 13-year-old girl into a car on Dec. 20 after school at West Junior High School; police also say they found a gun inside the car. Three other girls also accuse him of exposing himself to them while he was in the vehicle.

The two sides dispute how the incident unfolded. Stout’s jury trial on the new charges is scheduled to begin Sept. 8.