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ELKINS -- A former Elkins pastor waived his right to a speedy trial Thursday afternoon, pushing his possible trial date into 2027.
Kevin Curtis Jones, 34, of Elkins, appeared in Randolph County Circuit Court for a pretrial conference. Representing Jones was attorney Alex Harclerode. The state was represented by special prosecutor Gabrielle "Gabe" Mucciola, the Monongalia County prosecuting attorney. Circuit Judge Jaymie Wilfong presided over the conference.
In June, Jones was indicted by a Randolph County grand jury on one count of soliciting a minor via computer; one count of distribution and exhibiting of material depicting minors engaged in sexually explicit conduct or computer-generated child pornography; one count of delivery of a controlled substance; and one count of distribution of a hemp-derived cannabinoid product to a person under the age of 21, all felonies. Jones entered a plea of not guilty to those four charges during an arraignment hearing in July.
During Thursday’s conference, both Harclerode and Mucciola voiced concerns about being prepared for jury selection, which had previously been scheduled for Sept. 11, as Harclerode wished to review data from four of the five electronic devices the state had as evidence, and as Harclerode had made a motion to hold a suppression hearing prior to trial. Harclerode said a suppression hearing would “take care of a lot of the issues in this case” and would let them know if they would go forward with a trial or not. Both the defense and state representatives also said they were concerned about there being a large gap between jury selection and the trial date, given the case’s “heavy publicity.”
After some back and forth regarding the court’s, the state’s and the defense’s calendars, Wilfong told Harclerode she would be open to moving the trial into the next term of court, which runs from the end of October to the end of February. For this to happen, Wilfong said that Jones would have to waive his right to a speedy trial. Harclerode spoke privately with Jones and then told the court that Jones would waive his right to a speedy trial and would accept moving his trial to the next term of court.
A new tentative trial date has been set for Jan. 20, 2027 through Jan. 22, 2027.
Jones, who was arrested in October 2025, was the former pastor of the now-dissolved Summit Church in Elkins. According to one of the initial criminal complaints filed against Jones, the alleged victim in the case attended Summit Church, “making (Jones) a person of trust over the victim.” The arresting officer wrote in the complaint that he explained to the alleged victim what solicitation of a minor via computer was defined as under West Virginia State Code, and then asked the alleged victim if they thought Jones had solicited them. The alleged victim said, “Yes.”
During a second preliminary hearing for Jones in October 2025, the arresting officer told the court there were several photos of the alleged victim in their underwear and in a swimsuit on a device owned by Jones. The officer stated that directly after the swimsuit photo there was a similar photo of the alleged victim seemingly “exposing” private parts. That photo appeared to have been made using Artificial Intelligence (AI).
Jones was previously being held at the Tygart Valley Regional Jail on two separate $50,000 cash-only bonds set by Randolph County Magistrates Benjamin Shepler and Michael Dyer. During a previous bond modification hearing, Wilfong modified Jones' bonds to $50,000 property and $25,000 cash or surety, which has since been posted.
As part of Jones' bond, he is not permitted to be in possession of any devices that can send or receive text, email or any form of electronic messages; no contact with anyone under the age of 18 with the exception of his biological child, so long as the child's mother allows it; and no contact in any way with the alleged victim in this case.