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November 8, 2002

Man, 78, bound over for molestation trial

From: Pryor Daily Times, OK
Nov. 8, 2002

A Salina man was bound over for District Court arraignment Monday on charges of lewd molestation upon a 10-year-old girl nearly a year and a half ago.

Dan Anderson
Staff Writer

A Salina man was bound over for District Court arraignment Monday on charges of lewd molestation upon a 10-year-old girl nearly a year and a half ago.
Leighton A. Collins, 78, of Salina, was ordered to reappear on Nov. 26, at 1:30 p.m. in District Court where he will receive a date for a possible jury trial.
Legal proceedings were postponed once due to the death of then Salina Police Chief Robert Randolph who had been investigating the allegations.
Brad Craig became the police chief in April, 2002, and when he was made aware of the 2001 incident he reopened the investigation, according to Assistant District Attorney Rebecca Gore.
The girl, now 12, testified that on April 10, 2001, she was waiting for a friend at his apartment door when someone, later identified as Leighton, grabbed her from behind, pulling her to the alleged abductor's apartment some 20 feet away.
Once inside Leighton's apartment, the girl said he asked, "Do you want a piece of candy?"
She refused, according to her testimony Monday.
She then testified that he touched her once on her shoulder and once on "my private parts."
Collins, who wears a hearing aid, was assisted by a computer monitor attached to the stenographer's machine that allowed him to read both question and answer as given.
Collins is represented by the Oklahoma Indigent Defense System and is free on a $10,000 bond.

©The Daily Times 2002