OREGON – An Ogle County judge agreed Wednesday to a special conference with attorneys in April for a former Boy Scout leader accused of sexually abusing a 15-year-old boy 20 years ago.

Jason L. Endress, 44, of Morrison is charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault and two counts of aggravated criminal sexual abuse, stemming from incidents alleged to have occurred in 2004 when he was a director at Camp Lowden, a Boy Scout camp east of Oregon.

He has pleaded not guilty to all charges.

On Wednesday, Endress and his attorney, James Mertes, appeared before Judge John Redington, with Ogle County Assistant State’s Attorney Allison Huntley representing the state.

“I have been advised that you are both asking for a 402 conference,” Redington said.

A 402 conference is intended to be an open process where attorneys and a judge discuss relevant information regarding the case and a potential outcome. Defendants are not present during the conference, but must agree to waive their presence before it is held.

Redington set the conference and a subsequent hearing for 11 a.m. April 22. Huntley did not object to the continuance.

“Even though you won’t be in the room with us, I want you here in the courthouse, so Mr. Mertes can meet with you right after the conference,” Redington told Endress.

Endress, a teacher at Clinton High School, in Clinton, Iowa, for 22 years, was put on paid administrative leave in August.

He was arrested June 25, 2023, after the Ogle County Sheriff’s Department received a call June 23 from Emily Cross, chief operating officer of the Blackhawk Area Council, who told police the organization’s hotline received a call with the allegations.

The council is chartered by the national Boy Scouts of America and is headquartered in Rockford, serving southwestern Wisconsin and northwestern Illinois. In Illinois, it runs Canyon Camp, between Stockton and Apple River, and Camp Lowden.

During an August preliminary hearing, Ogle County Sheriff’s Lt. Brian Ketter testified that he contacted the hotline caller, who said he was a camper at Camp Lowden in 2003 and 2004, when Endress, then 25, was a director. The man said he met Endress when he was 14, they “got along very well, and he returned as a camper in 2004, when their “bond grew closer,” Ketter testified.

According to court documents, the alleged sexual contact occurred May 24 and Sept. 6, 2004. Ketter said the man waited 19 years to report the incident because when he turned 25, the incident was “wearing on him” and he called the hotline looking for some help. Ketter also testified that he and an Illinois State Police special agent listened in on a telephone conversation that the man had with Endress on July 20.

Endress is free on $100,000 bond after posting 10%, or $10,000. He has no criminal history in Iowa or the Sauk Valley area, according to court records.

• Reporter Kathleen Schiultz contributed this story.