photo by: Chris Conde/Journal-World

The Douglas County Judicial and Law Enforcement Center is pictured in March of 2022. The center houses the Douglas County District Court and other county services.

A sexual battery charge against a man was dismissed by the Douglas County District Attorney’s Office on Thursday because the 16-year-old alleged victim had moved out of state and was no longer available to testify.

The man, Isaiah Jamin Duckworth, 35, of Lawrence, was charged with one felony count of aggravated sexual battery of a person who is overcome by force or by fear, according to charging documents. The incident is alleged to have occurred on Oct. 11, 2022.

The motion to dismiss, filed by Deputy District Attorney Joshua Seiden, said that the minor’s guardian did not have transportation to get the girl to Duckworth’s preliminary hearing on Thursday, although the girl had been available for two prior hearings that were continued.

When asked on Friday if the girl was unable to testify via Zoom or if the court had indicated that it would not grant another continuance to allow her to make arrangements, Seiden declined to comment to the Journal-World.

Duckworth was arrested on Oct. 11, 2022, in the 300 block of Maine Street. He was held on a $50,000 bond. He had yet to be released from jail at the time of this report.

At Duckworth’s first appearance in October 2022, Assistant District Attorney Christen Secrest said that Duckworth had pending firearm charges in California. Duckworth said at the time that he planned to travel to California the following month to resolve those charges. In a letter in his case file that was sent on Dec. 27, 2022, to Judge Sally Pokorny, he asked for mercy in the case after being denied a lower bond amount and said that he had missed court dates, lost his job in Lawrence and all of his belongings.