Editor’s note: This story contains information about alleged child sexual abuse. If you know or suspect that someone under the age of 18 is being sexually or physically abused, call the Texas Child Abuse Hotline at 1-800-252-5400. For more information about identifying signs of child abuse or neglect, visit dfpx.state.us/Child_protection.
The trial of former Wichita Falls car dealer Anthony Ryan Patterson could be delayed for months.
Patterson’s Metroplex attorneys have filed a motion to send clothing for independent DNA testing.
The 47-year-old was released Thursday from the Wichita County Jail on bail of more than $2 million for multiple charges related to allegations of human trafficking and child sex abuse, according to online jail records.
The clothing to be sent for DNA testing is what investigators say was worn by one of the two girls Patterson is accused of sexually abusing in 2017.
More: Anthony Patterson: A Timeline
It consists of a “black T-shirt, white leggings and blue/pink underwear,” according to court documents.
According to court records, Patterson was required to submit to a DNA test in November 2023. The sample was sent to a Texas Department of Public Safety laboratory in Lubbock for comparison with the clothing.
After Patterson’s attorneys received the test results, they requested their own testing be performed by Intermountain Forensic in Salt Lake City.
The lawyers said in the request filed with the court on May 10 that it could take 60 to 75 days before the results are known.
Like 78e District Judge Meredith Kennedy granted the request, saying it would further delay a trial that has already stretched months past its original date.
A hearing on a defense motion is scheduled for June 13.
Patterson was first charged in May 2021. Court records show that subsequent indictments charge him with aggravated sexual assault of a child, human trafficking, indecency to a child by exposure, sexual performance of a child and work harmful to children.
He also faces charges of sexual assault of a child in connection with a separate allegation.
Patterson has been jailed five times as charges piled up and has paid millions of dollars in cash bail to remain free while he awaits trial. The conditions of his release impose several restrictions and require him to live at his mother’s home in Wichita Falls.
If convicted, he could face five years to life in prison.
Anyone accused of a crime is presumed innocent unless proven guilty in court.
The trial was moved to Fort Worth due to a change of venue after Patterson’s attorneys claimed he could not receive a fair trial in Wichita Falls due to the extensive publicity of the case.
It was initially scheduled to begin on May 8, 2023, but was postponed when new charges were filed against Patterson. Jury selection had already begun in October 2023 when the trial was postponed again until February 26, 2024. Afterwards, Kennedy postponed the trial again so that forensic evidence could be collected. No new trial date has been set.
The charges involve two Vernon girls who were 8 and 10 years old when the alleged incidents occurred in 2017.
An adult relative of the girls revealed to investigators that Patterson paid her to take the children to his Wichita Falls home for sexual purposes, according to allegations in court documents.
The woman, Jandreani Dasimella Bell, is also charged in connection with the case.
Court records also show that attorneys are ready to bring an array of expert witnesses to the stand, including forensic specialists, psychotherapists, sexual assault investigators and DNA experts.
This article originally appeared on Wichita Falls Times Record News: Defense attorneys’ requests could further delay Anthony Patterson’s trial
