A jury trial remains scheduled to start June 3 for a California professional photographer accused of committing sex acts last summer with two underage sisters from Ketchum.
Christopher Scott Honeysett has been charged with two counts of lewd conduct with a minor child under 16, an offense in Idaho that is punishable by up to life in prison.
Honeysett's case was discussed at a private pretrial conference Monday in Blaine County 5th District Court. The conference was held in Judge Robert J. Elgee's private chamber and attended by Blaine County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Matt Fredback and Defense Attorney Andrew Parnes. The public was excluded, as was the news media and a court reporter.
Neither Parnes nor Prosecuting Attorney Jim Thomas replied by Tuesday afternoon to inquiries from the Idaho Mountain Express on the status of the case. Private conferences are sometimes indicative that a plea agreement is in the works.
Honeysett is accused of engaging in sex acts with the sisters, ages 14 and 15, on the evening of Aug. 9, 2007, on the roof of the Jones Building at the corner of Fourth and Main streets in downtown Ketchum.
Court records state that Honeysett, a San Francisco artistic photographer, was in Ketchum at the time displaying photographs at the Sun Valley Center Arts and Crafts Festival. Records further state that the girls were volunteers who assisted Honeysett at his booth.
Honeysett, 42, is currently free on $100,000 bond.