PORT TOWNSEND — The criminal trial of former Chimacum High School Principal Rex Whipple, was originally scheduled to begin this week, has been postponed to Oct. 2.
Whipple is accused of allegedly videotaping a 15-year-old Chimacum High School student in various stages of undress while in Whipple’s Port Ludlow home.
He faces one count of sexual exploitation of a minor — carrying a maximum penalty of 10 years imprisonment and/or a $20,000 fine — and 10 counts of possessing depictions of a minor engages in sexually explicit conduct.
Each of the 10 counts carries a maximum penalty of five years imprisonment and/or a $10,000 fine.
He has pleaded not guilty to all counts.
Defense needs more time
The trial was postponed after Whipple’s Bainbridge Island attorney, Alton McFadden, said he needed more time to build his defense.
As evidence, Jefferson County Prosecuting Attorney Juelie Dalzell has 57 video clips and still images of the 15-year-old girl — downloaded to Whipple’s Chimacum School District-issued laptop computer between Oct. 12, 2005, and March 6, 2006 — that were also stored in and recovered from the school district’s server, according to court records.
McFadden, in earlier court appearances, has suggested that someone else filmed and placed homemade videos of the teenager on the laptop computer.
