WILMINGTON — A local man accused of sending inappropriate texts to a minor will go before a jury.

On Wednesday, Clinton County Common Pleas Judge John “Tim” Rudduck scheduled a four-day jury trial for Robert A. Simpson to start on April 12.

Simpson, 36, currently incarcerated in the Clinton County Jail, was indicted in January on 13 charges including five counts of alleged pandering obscenity to a minor, two counts of alleged pandering sexually-oriented matters to a minor, four counts of alleged illegal use of a minor/impaired person, and two counts of alleged disseminating matter harmful to juveniles.

According to court documents, the Wilmington Police Department was contacted by the Derry, New Hampshire Police Department in November about an incident involving a 15-year-old minor. The minor had reportedly been exchanging text messages with Simpson.

The alleged messages were sexually explicit where “Simpson solicited sexual conduct with (the minor) via a telecommunication device”, according to the affidavit.

WPD Det. Codey Juillerat received a CD from Tompkins which contained information from the messages. Between Nov. 7 and 9, 2021, the conversations allegedly shared between Simpson and the minor contained “numerous sexually explicit conversations” including nude images of each other, according to the affidavit, and they included Simpson reportedly saying he wanted to engage in sexual acts with the minor and with the minor’s mother simultaneously.

Juillerat made contact with Simpson, who he said he met the minor on a Facebook page called “Teens Dating”, according to the affidavit. When asked if he knew how young the minor was, Simpson replied he knew “she was in school” and “he clearly knew she was underage”, according to the affidavit.