A March 7 trail has been set for Brittany Pilkington, 23, who is held on $100,000 bond in the Logan County Jail, where she was booked on an aggravated murder charge since Aug. 18.
Pilkington is accused of killing her sons Gavin, Niall and Noah over a 13-month period.
Her next court date scheduled is Oct. 21 for a status conference, online court records show.
UPDATE @ 6:30 p.m. Sept. 11:
A Bellefontaine mom and her husband are now both in the same jail.
Joseph Pilkington — accused of sexual battery for allegedly impregnating his wife, Brittany, when she was 17 — was transferred today to the Logan County Jail from the Licking County Jail. He remains held on $100,000 bond.
Brittany Pilkington is being held on $1 million bond in the Logan County Jail, where she has been held since Aug. 18 on suspicion of aggravated murder for allegedly killing the couple’s three young sons, Gavin, Niall and Noah, over a 13-month period.
UPDATE @ 11:24 a.m. Sept. 11:
A Licking County judge this morning set bond for Joseph Pilkington at $100,000.
If he does not post bond he will remain in the jail there until Logan County deputies pick him up and transfer him to the Logan County Jail to face his charge of sexual battery.
They have until Sept. 25 to make that transfer.
If he does post bond, he must report to court in Logan County by Sept. 25 for arraignment, court officials said.
Pilkington was still listed as an inmate in Licking County at 11:15 a.m., but a note on his booking said, “released to Logan County 9/11/15.”
UPDATE @6:15 p.m. Sept. 10:
The father of three Bellefontaine boys allegedly killed by their mother is accused of sexually abusing his wife when she was a teenager.
Joseph Pilkington was arrested today without incident in Newark, Ohio, and was booked into the Licking County Jail on a hold for Logan County.
A Logan County grand jury on Tuesday secretly indicted Pilkington on a charge of sexual battery, a third-degree felony. A warrant was issued for his arrest, and police in Newark were notified. If convicted, Pilkington could be sentenced to up to five years in prison.
Pilkington is accused of abusing his position as a father figure and impregnating his wife, Brittany Pilkington, before they were married when she was 17.
She is currently awaiting trial for aggravated murder and could face the death penalty for allegedly smothering to death the couple’s three sons — 3-month-old Niall in July 2014; 4-year-old Gavin in April; and 3-month-old Noah in August.
Joseph Pilkington dated his wife’s mother, Lori Cummins, for about seven years, starting when Brittany Pilkington was about 7 or 8 years old, family members said. He lived in the family’s home even after splitting with her mother, eventually starting a relationship with the teen 20 years his junior.
Brittany Pilkington became pregnant with their son Gavin when she was 17 and they married when she turned 18.
Logan County Prosecutor William Goslee said the case was brought to his predecessor’s attention when Brittany Pilkington became pregnant at 17, but no charges were pursued.
In the course of investigating the murders, Goslee said it became evident that Joseph Pilkington had presented himself as Brittany Pilkington’s parent on numerous occasions and therefore sexual contact with the teen constitutes sexual battery.
The Ohio Revised Code defines sexual battery as any sexual conduct where, “the offender is the other person’s natural or adoptive parent, or a stepparent, or guardian, custodian, or person in loco parentis of the other person.” “In loco parentis” refers to an individual who assumes parental responsibility for a child without formally adopting them.
School records and doctor’s bills from Brittany Pilkington’s childhood included Joseph Pilkington’s signature in the place of a parent or guardian, Goslee said.
“He clearly was in that role when she was very young, 12 or 13,” he said.
It’s unknown when the sexual relationship began, Goslee said, but her pregnancy at 17 is enough to prove the conduct occurred when she was a minor under Joseph Pilkington’s parental care.
He has not been charged in connection with the boys’ deaths but his relationship with his wife has been described as “controlling” by prosecutors during the investigation.
Cummins, Brittany Pilkington’s mother, has said she didn’t think much of the relationship between her daughter and her ex when it began. Cummins hadn’t dated Joseph Pilkington for some time at that point, she said, but he was still living with them. She objected, she said, when her daughter became pregnant and wanted to get married.
“I wasn’t happy because she was still in school,” Cummins said. She tried to warn her daughter that Joseph Pilkington could be very controlling. “She knew. She was old enough to know,” she said.
Other family members said they had concerns for years about the situation.
“We had suspicions about it, but we couldn’t prove anything,” said Brittany Pilkington’s father, Ed Cummins, who split with Lori Cummins prior to Joseph Pilkington moving in with the family.
Lori Cummins’ brother, Jeff Skaggs, said he previously tried to alert a probation officer about behavior he noticed between Joseph Pilkington and his niece.
“It goes back 12 to 15 years,” Skaggs said after his niece’s arrest. He believes Joseph Pilkington made a concerted effort to get her two siblings out of the house so he could have complete control. Shortly after he moved in, Lori Cummins’ sons went to live with other family members, Skaggs said.
“Lori needs held responsible for what she did … over the years with Joe and Lori and Brittany behind closed doors,” Skaggs previously said.
When reached today, Skaggs said he said he’s glad the prosecutor has listened to the full story and charged Joseph Pilkington.
“We are thankful for the story getting out there,” he said.
Ed Cummins said Joseph Pilkington’s indictment came as a surprise.
“I’m kind of shocked about it,” he said. “Thanks to the prosecutor for finally looking into stuff and finding a way to work it out.
“We kind of got a little bit of closure, something’s being done, now they’re showing us something’s being done.”
FIRST REPORT, Aug. 26
About two miles separated the courtroom where a young Bellefontaine mother pleaded not guilty to aggravated murder charges Wednesday and the funeral service where her youngest infant was laid to rest.
On the west end of town, Brittany Pilkington sat quietly, only briefly speaking to answer the judge’s questions as the charges were read against her at an arraignment held at the jail.
The 23-year-old could face the death penalty if convicted.
Her $1 million bond was continued at the court hearing, held at the same time as the funeral for her youngest son.
At the Eichholtz, Daring & Sanford funeral home in the center of Bellefontaine, family and supporters gathered to say their goodbyes to baby Noah Pilkington.
“We’d just like to thank everybody for being with us and grieving with us for a sad day,” said Jeff Skaggs, Brittany Pilkington’s uncle.
The family is still grappling with why or how the three young boys died over the past 13 months.
Prosecutors say Brittany Pilkington confessed to killing 3-month-old Niall Pilkington in July 2014; 4-year-old Gavin Pilkington in April; and 3-month-old Noah Pilkington on Aug. 18. Noah and his 3-year-old sister had been returned from foster care six days before his death.
She allegedly told investigators she smothered them with a blanket because their father favored the boys over their daughter.
In court Wednesday, her mother and other family members listened as Assistant Prosecutor Eric Stewart asked the judge to keep her behind bars.
“She’s a harm to herself, to others and the community,” Stewart said.
She didn’t just admit to killing the children, Stewart said, but detailed how she did it and why.
Brittany Pilkington also indicated she had suicidal thoughts, he said, and should be kept in jail due to her mental state. She was previously on suicide watch at the jail, but has since been taken off, he said.
Family members said they are standing by Brittany Pilkington and hope all their questions will eventually be answered.
“It’s a real bad tragedy, it really is, and were going to try to stick with her the best we can. Because we love her,” Skaggs said. “The answers will be told … the whole questions that everybody’s wanting to know they will be answered sooner or later.”
Joseph Pilkington attended the funeral but didn’t speak to the media. He is devastated, Skaggs said.
Skaggs doesn’t believe his niece deserves the death penalty and wants her to get help.
Her mother, Lori Cummins, spoke as she left the courtroom and reiterated her belief that Brittany Pilkington is innocent.
Her daughter has learning disabilities, Cummins said, and had lead poisoning as a child. She believes Brittany Pilkington was coerced into confessing to these crimes or didn’t understand what she was saying.
Noah will be buried alongside his brothers at a cemetery in Quincy, family said.
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