BLOOMFIELD, Mo. -- A Dexter man will stand trial in April, 2016, after being arrested in July, 2012.
The trial date has been specifically set for April 15, 2016, with jury selection to begin at 9 a.m.
Verl Cato, 41, was arrested on July 9, 2012, and was charged with six counts of the Class B felony of possession of child pornography. He was initially scheduled to appear for trial on June 29, but was able to receive a continuance.
Cato is accused of possessing pornography that depicts children as young as four years old in explicit sexual acts.
According to a probable cause affidavit filed by Det. Lt. Trevor Pulley of the Dexter Police Department, the investigation of Cato began in November 2011.
Pulley stated in the report that the information was downloaded on multiple occasions between Nov. 21-28, 2011, through a peer-to-peer file sharing program called Frostwire, which is like a "clone of Limewire."
During the investigation, SEMO Cyber Crimes Task Force Detective Scott Phelps connected to the computer and allegedly found a file list containing 18 files, seven of which were suspected to be child pornography.
Cato's computer, after analysis, was found to contain "several videos associated with child pornography."
According to the report, Pulley stated there were a total of 35 videos of child pornography and numerous videos of children of "questionable age."
In November 2012, Cato entered a plea of not guilty. The following January, Cato's attorney, Daniel Moore filed for a change of judge, and Circuit Judge John Spielman was assigned to hear the case. Since that time, there have been numerous hearings rescheduled, with the original trial date having been scheduled for Sept. 5, 2014.