SCOTTSBLUFF, Neb.—A western Nebraska judge has dismissed charges brought against a mother nearly five years after the death of her 2-year-old daughter.
An autopsy showed that trauma killed Juliette Geurts in 2008, and her death was classified as a homicide. But the case languished without arrests until a public petition drive last year gathered enough signatures to force an investigation by a grand jury, which indicted 25-year-old Charyse Geurts, of Appleton, Wis., earlier this year.
But Scotts Bluff County District Judge Leo Dobrovolny dismissed accessory and false reporting charges against Geurts on Thursday, the Scottsbluff Star-Herald reported (). The judge agreed with Geurts’ attorney that the three-year statute of limitations had run out.
Still facing charges is Dustin Chancey, who was Geurts’ boyfriend at the time of Juliette’s death. The grand jury indicted Chancey, 26, on charges of child abuse resulting in death, manslaughter and providing false information to an officer.
The statute of limitations in Nebraska for child abuse offenses is seven years.
Chauncey is in a Colorado prison on a drug conviction. He has not yet appeared in Scotts Bluff County District Court on charges in Juliette’s death. He is expected to appear within the next couple of weeks after Colorado agreed to transport him to Nebraska, according to court documents.
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Information from: Star-Herald,
