The defense attorney of a Clay Township man accused of sexually abusing a foster child said she is missing discovery evidence that may aid his defense in a Thursday, July 3, hearing.

Cecil W. Hallin, 43, was charged with one felony count each of indecent assault of a person under the age of 13, corruption of minors and child endangerment, and misdemeanor indecent exposure following alleged incidents that occurred between Dec. 28, 2023, and May 23, 2024.

Pittsburgh-based defense attorney Dachan Furnace said she was missing two forensic interviews from potential witnesses, the Lawrence County Child and Youth Services investigation and two pages from the incident report that could be valuable for Hallin’s defense.

Furnace said she has subpoenaed Lawrence County for the documents but has had no response, so she asked Butler County Common Pleas Judge Joseph Kubit to compel Lawrence County to provide them if Butler County assistant district attorney Laura Pitchford could not.

Pitchford said she can provide the defense with access to the two videos, but does not believe she has the two missing incident report pages. She also said the court should subpoena Lawrence County CYS to testify and provide the report.

Kubit disagreed the court should subpoena Lawrence County CYS on behalf of the defense. He also said Lawrence County CYS should explain if a judge should look at the withheld evidence and decide if the defense has a right to it. The withheld evidence is sensitive because it involves other juveniles.

A new hearing will be scheduled in August once the defense has the evidence it seeks, according to the attorneys. A July 21 status conference was canceled.

The child who accused Hallin detailed the alleged abuse in a forensic interview conducted by the Children’s Advocacy Center of Lawrence County on June 13, 2024.

During the interview, the child accused Hallin of committing multiple sexually abusive acts, including forcing the child to watch pornography and teaching him to masturbate.

The child also accused Hallin of committing multiple physical acts of sexual assault, including kissing him without his consent.

State police first became aware of the issue in a ChildLine report on May 23, which came after the child told his mother about the alleged acts of abuse.