POCATELLO – A Pocatello couple charged with multiple counts of child sexual exploitation waived preliminary hearings as part of their agreements with the prosecutor.
Lance Parry, 47, and Jessica Parry, 38, are each charged with 10 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.
The couple is also charged with possession of a controlled substance, methamphetamine.
Lance and Jessica Parry appeared before 6th District Magistrate Thomas W. Clark on Monday.
Bannock County Deputy Prosecutor Zach Parris said the state agreed to release Jessica Parry on her own recognizance to court services. She must comply with all terms of court services including drug testing once she is released.
Jessica Parry is being represented by Kelly Kumm with the Pocatello law firm of Kumm and Reichert LLC.
Kumm said his client waived her preliminary hearing on the pending charges, but she reserved the right to come back and contest any additional evidence uncovered by the state.
Lance Parry, represented by Pocatello attorney Robert O. Eldredge Jr., also waived preliminary proceedings. In exchange, the state agreed to lower his bond to $40,000. If he posts bond, Lance Parry must also comply with court services.
When waiving a preliminary hearing, a defendant waives the right to have the state prove a crime was committed and that the defendant was likely the person who committed the crime.
Charges against Lance and Jessica Parry were filed on Dec. 14.
Parris said the state is awaiting forensic evidence in the case, and officers are conducting interviews to determine if there may be additional victims.
Lance and Jessica Parry will be arraigned in 6th District Court later this month and their cases will be set for jury trial.
Attorney General Lawrence Wasden said last month that the arrest of Lance and Jessica Parry were the result of an investigation that was launched in September by the attorney general’s Idaho Internet Crimes Against Children Unit.
The Pocatello Police Department, the U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Marshals, the United States Postal Service, the Bannock County Prosecutor and the Bannock County Sheriff’s Office assisted in the investigation.
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