Greene County man ordered to stand trial on more than 2,000 child sex abuse charges
A Greene County man facing thousands of child sex abuse charges was ordered to stand trial following his preliminary hearing Thursday afternoon.
Dustin Hyrum Lane, 40, of Franklin Township, was charged Aug. 31 with more than 2,000 counts involving the alleged abuse over several years dating back to 2018 while the child was between the ages of 8 and 11.
State police said Lane touched the child inappropriately, sexually abused the victim and also showed pornographic material. Police began investigating Lane in May after receiving reports about the situation with child, according to court documents.
During interviews with investigators, the accuser said there was a pattern of abuse while alone with Lane, and the child’s sibling corroborated many details, according to court documents. Police said Lane allegedly gave the child money and gifts in order to keep the abuse hidden from others.
Lane denied the allegations during interviews with police and said it was “retaliation” against him by the child’s family, investigators wrote in court documents. However, police said they found that Lane made contradictory statements at times and made statements about certain detail that investigators knew weren’t true.
Lane is facing 2,016 charges, the vast majority of which are felony counts that include child rape, aggravated indecent assault of a child, corruption of minors, sexual assault and statutory sex assault, among various others charges. His court-appointed defense attorney, James Jeffries, could not be reached for comment Friday.
District Judge Glenn Bates ordered Lane to stand trial on all charges following the preliminary hearing. Lane is being held at the Greene County jail on $200,000 bond.