Joshua Carrier Could Face 1 Trial Instead Of 2

Prosecutors from the 4th Judicial Attorney’s Office filed a motion in El Paso County Court Friday to combine the two cases against former Colorado Springs Police Officer Joshua Carrier into one.

Carrier currently faces two cases. One involves child pornography and the other involves sexual assault of children. Prosecutors said there are nearly 200 counts against 22 victims.

Carrier left the El Paso County Courthouse with his attorney just after noon Friday. Both declined comment.

Carrier was a school resource officer at Mann Middle School when accusations first surfaced that he purchased child pornography. Investigators later arrested Carrier on charges that he sexually assaulted a number of children, some of them students at the school.

Up to this point the two cases have been separate, but now prosecutors have sought to combine them, saving the cost and hassle of two trials. Judge David Gilbert will hold a hearing on the issue at 8:30 a.m. Dec. 28.

Before that hearing, Gilbert scheduled the pornography trial for Jan. 9 and the assault trial for March 12.

The issue came up during Friday’s hearing that dealt primarily with conditions of Carrier’s bond. He is currently free after posting a bond of $500,000 something that concerns prosecutors and the families of his alleged victims. They fear Carrier could be a flight risk or be a threat to the alleged victims.

Gilbert declined motions from prosecutors and three attorneys representing families involved, to raise bond to $1 million and require Carrier to wear a GPS monitoring device. Gilbert said granting those requests would punish Carrier, and that Carrier is innocent until proven guilty.

Gilbert also ordered Carrier to provide any addresses where he’ll be living and descriptions of any vehicles he’ll be driving. Carrier’s attorney said Carrier will provide three possible addresses and information about two vehicles.

Prosecutors asked that Carrier not be allowed to use the Internet, but Gilbert said he can as long as he does not visit any sites containing sexual content.

Gilbert continued the existing bond conditions — that Carrier stays at least 100 yards from a school and has no contact with children under 18. Carrier had asked to be able to visit a nephew for Christmas, but Gilbert said the conditions also includes children who are his relatives.