A November trial date has been scheduled for a child pornography case involving a Butler County man.

John Paul Doerr, 33, of Butler was scheduled for a Friday morning court proceeding known as a status conference in Butler County’s government center to discuss the case.

The meeting was supposed to be held in the Butler County Courthouse. But Michael Pawk, Doerr’s attorney, said the meeting was conducted over a conference call instead due to convenience. He noted the call did not produce anything substantial other than the trial date.

Doerr faces child pornography charges after admitting he downloaded child pornography videos onto his home computer last year, according to authorities. The criminal case against him was referred to the state’s attorney general after District Attorney Richard Goldinger recused his office from prosecuting the case.

All county judges also recused themselves from presiding over the case, prompting visiting Senior Judge Tim Creany to be assigned to the case. John Paul Doerr is the son of President Judge Thomas Doerr.

Creany’s office confirmed that a conference was held Thursday, during which a trial date for Nov. 13 was scheduled. With Creany in Cambria, Pawk in Butler city and the attorney general’s office in Harrisburg, the judge decided to hold the meeting between all the parties by phone, according to Pawk.

“Normally, status conferences are a big cattle call, but in this case the judge is far away, so it just made more sense for us to do it over the phone,” Pawk said.

John Paul Doerr faces 42 felonies related to child pornography and Pawk said that “no substantive changes” have been made in the case. Creany’s office said it would take up to a week for the paperwork from the conference to be processed and made public.

State police arrested Doerr on Jan. 16 following an undercover investigation into the sharing of child pornography on the Internet, according to court documents.

He was arraigned on six counts of dissemination of photographs, videotapes, computer depictions and films depicting children engaged in sex acts, 35 counts of possession of child pornography, and one count of criminal use of a communication facility, all felonies.

Investigators first went online to identify those sharing and possessing child pornography using a BitTorrent file-sharing network. Out of that investigation, they executed a search warrant of the defendant’s home on Oct. 16.

Police seized a computer tower belonging to John Paul Doerr during the search. They interviewed him that same day, and he “confessed to downloading multiple child pornography videos” onto the computer, according to a police affidavit.

Doerr was released with no bail after his preliminary arraignment. He did not appear at his formal arraignment, with Pawk appearing on his behalf. Doerr was released on his own recognizance in January.