On Monday, Rob Kaufman, Dye’s lawyer, said he and his client were weighing a plea bargain offered by prosecutors. In exchange for her plea to two charges, the prosecutors would drop one charge filed against her.
The case has drawn international media attention, but resulted in no felony charges from a Warren County grand jury.
Dye, 31, is charged with three misdemeanors, contributing to the delinquency of a child, sexual imposition and attempted sexual imposition, in Warren County Juvenile Court.
On Monday Kaufman declined to say which charge would be dropped in exchange for Dye’s guilty pleas. Nolan said he was unable to explain why Kaufman was under the mistaken impression that a plea bargain had been offered to Dye.
“There must have been some miscommunication,” Kaufman said.
If convicted of the contributing charge, the most serious against her, Dye — who has been in jail since June 30 — faces up to six months in jail. If convicted of the sexual imposition charge, Dye can be classified as a sexual offender, a priority for investigators in the case. However she would be freed sooner, based on time served while awaiting trial.
On Oct. 6, Dye is expected enter a plea or stand trial on the charges brought after police found the teen girl malnourished and with sores on her feet in Franklin.
The girl told police she thought Dye was a boy. The girl said she had sexual contact with Dye both at her home before she turned 16 and on June 28, her 16th birthday, after she ran away, according to police.
A daughter of the woman watching the teen — while her mother was recovering from gall bladder surgery — also told police she knew Dye was female, although “there were speculations about Matt Abrams/Lewis Dye’s true gender,” Springboro Officer Dustin Christian said in a report.
“It was also reported that 'Matt’ advised that his mother’s name was Patricia, although (the daughter) never saw this fictitious person,” Christian said in the report.
A Warren County grand jury declined to bring any felony charges against Dye, but approved charges of sexual imposition and attempted sexual imposition, based on alleged sexual contact before the girl’s 16th birthday.
The contributing charge stems from Dye’s alleged role in the girl running away from home.
Contact this reporter at (937) 225-2261 or lbudd@DaytonDailyNews.com.
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