Bail Unchanged for Bishop Accused of Sexual Assault

The Press-Enterprise
June 27, 2013

http://www.pe.com/local-news/riverside-county/menifee/menifee-headlines/20130627-menifee-bail-unchanged-for-bishop-accused-of-sexual-assault.ece

Todd Michael Edwards, far right, consults with attorney Sean Davitt before a hearing in Superior Court in Riverside on Thursday, June 27, 2013. Edwards is accused of sexually assaulting two teen girls who were members of a Mormon church in Menifee where Edwards recently served as a bishop.

Bail remained at $65,000 Thursday, June 27, for Todd Michael Edwards, the man accused of sexually assaulting two teen girls who were members of a Mormon church in Menifee where Edwards was bishop.

Edwards' defense attorneys had been seeking a bail reduction. But during a hearing Thursday morning in Riverside, Superior Court Judge Becky L. Dugan said the amount of bail was appropriate for the charges: sexual penetration with a foreign object while using bodily force, sexual battery and dissuading a witness.

Edwards, who turns 49 on June 29, has pleaded not guilty to all charges. A date of July 24 was set Thursday for a felony settlement conference.

He was bishop of the Menifee Ward of the Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints.

Follow Brian Rokos on Twitter: @Brian_Rokos and online at blog.pe.com/crime-blotter/