A Jefferson man accused of sexually abusing his daughter will stand trial for a third time next week.

A jury trial for 47-year-old James Hubert Exline is slated to begin Monday with jury selection. The trial will be held in the Bremer County Courthouse in Waverly. This will be the third jury trial for Exline, after the last two were mistrials. The most recent was on May 2nd, when special assigned Judge James Drew declared a mistrial in Cerro Gordo County. Defense Attorney Daniel Gonnerman requested a mistrial when the jury was exposed to information about other pending charges, in unrelated cases, in Guthrie County. The first mistrial was in Greene County on October 18, 2017, due to media exposure not allowing the selection of an impartial jury.

Exline faces charges of a Class A Felony for his second or subsequent offense for second degree sexual abuse and a Class C Felony for third degree sexual abuse. He is accused of sexually abusing his 12-year-old daughter, Paige Exline, from June 2016 to April 2017. Paige was one of the victims who died in a house fire in Guthrie Center on May 17, 2017.

According to court documents, Gonnerman made a motion to exclude the testimony of one of the State’s witnesses, and Paige’s grandmother, Shirley Exline. The motion claims that during the previous trial on May 2nd, Shirley caused a mistrial because “she failed to follow an order of the court restricting her testimony.” As of Thursday morning, Judge Drew hasn’t made a decision on the request. Gonnerman made another motion requesting an additional $2,000 for a private investigator at the public’s expense. Judge Drew granted a similar request earlier in the case. Court documents show that he granted the $2,000 request.

Raccoon Valley Radio will bring you daily updates as the trial progresses.