Defendant in sex-crime cases from 25 years ago is seeking mediation with local judge

photo by: Lawrence Police Department/Jackson Co. Mo.

David J. Zimbrick

A man accused of three sex crimes against two Lawrence children in the early 2000s pleaded not guilty on Monday, waived his upcoming preliminary hearing and told the court that he and the state intended to talk to a local judge about possibly mediating the case.

David Zimbrick, who’s been charged with one count of rape, one count of aggravated criminal sodomy and one count of aggravated indecent liberties with a child, was set to have a preliminary hearing on July 8. At that hearing, the state would have sought to prove to Judge Stacey Donovan that probable cause existed to order Zimbrick to stand trial.

But Zimbrick’s attorney, Carl Cornwell, said the hearing, with its low burden of proof, would be pointless.

“We’re not going to gain anything from this preliminary hearing,” he told the court. Instead, he said, the parties intended to ask Douglas County Chief Judge Mark Simpson if he’d be willing to act as a mediator.

In a criminal mediation, a third party helps the state and the defendant negotiate a resolution to the case.

One of the alleged victims was reportedly listening to Monday’s hearing remotely.

Prosecutor Megan Ahsens confirmed that mediation was the plan and asked that Zimbrick waive his speedy trial right until his next court appearance, which Donovan scheduled for her Sept. 1 docket. If Zimbrick had not waived his speedy trial right Monday, the state would have had to try him within 180 days.

As the Journal-World reported, Zimbrick, now in his late 50s, was charged 25 years after his alleged crimes in Naismith Valley Park, where two children said he molested them. He was arrested in December 2025 by U.S. Marshals in Raytown, Missouri, after detectives with the Lawrence Police Department received confirmation from the Kansas Bureau of Investigation that DNA from Zimbrick was a match with DNA found at the crime scenes — namely a cigarette butt.

Zimbrick is out of custody on a $100,000 bond and has privately hired Cornwell to represent him.