Latimer man pleads not guilty to sexual abuse charges, while his father pleads not guilty to witness tampering charge

LATIMER — A Latimer man has pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of child sexual abuse while his father has pleaded not guilty on a conspiracy to commit witness tampering charge.

A criminal complaint charges 32-year-old Nicholas Passehl with three counts of second-degree sexual abuse, each a Class B felony punishable by up to 25 years in prison, after authorities say he committed multiple acts of child sexual abuse between May 1st and May 31st of last year.

In a separate case, Passehl was charged with unauthorized possession of offensive weapons, a Class D felony, with authorities accusing him of being in possession of and using a machine gun in rural western Latimer between September 18th and October 1st of 2023.

Passehl was arrested in mid-July on the charges.

Additional charges of conspiracy to commit witness tampering were filed in late July against Passehl and his father Jerry. A complaint states that the two had a conversation on July 22nd while Nicholas Passehl was in jail about how to influence reporting party statements. Two days later, Jerry Passehl allegedly attempted to have the victim’s sister contact law enforcement to state the sex abuse report was false.

Both Nicholas and Jerry Passehl are scheduled to have their trials start on October 21st.