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Lawyer�s illness again delays sex abuse trial A lawyer�s ill health has postponed � again � the trials of a former Jackson County caseworker charged with sexually abusing his developmentally disabled clients. Andy Vandergaw, the public defender representing Robert Forrest Jackson, confirmed Monday that he is requesting a delay of two trials set to begin April 10 and 24. "I am currently being treated for a medical condition and I need time to keep up those treatments," said Vandergaw, who declined further comment about his illness. Vandergaw indicated it likely will be mid-summer before Jackson, 62, of Talent, appears in court to face, all told, two dozen charges of first-degree sex abuse and first-degree sodomy involving seven adult male clients over a five-year period. Judge Patricia Crain in November agreed to separate eight charges involving one client because Deputy District Attorney Terry Smith previously had represented the client. Jackson faces one trial on five counts of first-degree sexual abuse and three counts of first-degree sodomy in connection with that client. A lawyer from the state Attorney General�s Office will be called in to argue the case, Vandergaw said. The remaining 16 charges, which involve six clients, will be the subject of a second trial, Vandergaw said. No new date has yet been set for either trial. This is the third postponement of a trial involving the 13-year-veteran of the county developmental disability program. Jackson, who was arrested in August, remains lodged in the Jackson County Jail on $2,225,000 bail. Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.