The preliminary hearings for four defendants charged in the case of the alleged kidnapping and brutal abuse of a Lawrence woman in June were pushed out to a later date on Thursday.

On June 19, Tabatha Jalayne Mallory, 25, of Lawrence, along with Christopher Cody Fast, 26, of Topeka, and Chelsea Rayne Adams, 23, of Edwardsville, were charged with aggravated kidnapping and aggravated battery in connection with the alleged three-day mental and physical abuse of their 22-year-old roommate, a mother of one.

Anthony Wayne Thomas, 29, of Lawrence, was originally only charged with aggravated assault in connection with the incident, but prosecutor C.J. Rieg changed the charge to aggravated kidnapping and tacked on additional charges of aggravated battery and two counts of child endangerment.

The codefendants were scheduled for a preliminary hearing Thursday, but the date was continued to Wednesday to allow time for attorneys to review case information.

Also on Thursday, Thomas asked Douglas County Chief District Judge Robert Fairchild to lessen his bond from the current amount of $15,000. Thomas’s attorney, Craig Stancliffe, argued that his client could not afford the $15,000 and the amount was too high.

“(Bond was set at $15,000) for what reason, I have no idea,” Stancliffe said, “I suppose to punish him up front.”

Rieg argued that the $15,000 amount was still left over from when Thomas was only charged with aggravated assault, which would have yielded probation if convicted. She said the new charges would bring prison time if convicted, thus making Thomas a flight risk. Rieg said that if Thomas is convicted of the kidnapping charge, it would bring a 15.5-year minimum prison sentence.

Fairchild said that because of the nature of the charges, he would not consider lowering the bond amount.

“Given the charges, this is an extremely low bond,” Fairchild said. “Normally, bond would be a couple hundred thousand, at least (for the charges).”

The four remain in the Douglas County Jail awaiting their next court appearance on Wednesday.