As prosecutors have filed a stack of felony charges against a Cody man — including accusing him of sexually abusing a minor — his defense team says the allegations have been based on speculation and innuendo.

Jimmy Parks, 49, was arrested in October on allegations that he sexually abused a teenager over the past year.

Parks’ bond has been set at a combined total of $210,000 cash on three felony counts related to the alleged sexual abuse and two separate felony counts of perjury, which allege he later testified falsely to a judge about his assets and whether he had a cellphone.

At a Monday morning hearing in Park County District Court, Judge Bill Simpson listened to about a half-hour’s worth of arguments about whether Parks’ $200,000 cash bond on the sexual abuse charges should be reduced and ultimately decided to leave the figure in place.

In her argument, Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Marina Tucker expressed concern that Parks could pose a risk to the community if he was released on bond, while defense attorney Sam Krone countered that they should instead “be worried about what the state’s going to do to Mr. Parks next.”

Krone argued the state is “being quite punitive” in the case, with charges filed in three different batches since Parks’ arrest.

“Typically, what we would see, your honor, in these types of cases, is the state would gather all the evidence, review the evidence, then determine how to proceed with the evidence,” Krone said. “Instead, in this matter against Mr. Parks, it’s sort of, ‘Well, let’s arrest Mr. Parks first, and then go see what the evidence says.’”

Parks was arrested shortly after the child told law enforcement about the alleged sexual abuse. Cody police officers and Park County Sheriff’s deputies then proceeded to conduct a series of court-authorized searches. Tucker has said that’s helped build a “strong” case, with authorities seizing biological evidence and recently finding “extensive pornographic web material” on Parks’ laptop; she said that material included visits to websites that the child specifically recalled Parks showing during the alleged sexual abuse.

However, Krone countered that no one knows who had access to the computer or used it.

“They don’t even really know what they have, frankly,” the attorney said of the state, “and Mr. Parks is being charged with some very serious charges as a result of a lot of speculation … and innuendo that’s not in context with the reality of the totality of the circumstances.”

Krone added that the defense’s understanding is that the child in the case has made “various fantastical-type statements in the past.” He said the defense plans to explore those issues as the case proceeds toward an April trial.

While the defense “has clearly stated the position that this victim should not be believed,” Tucker said multiple authorities witnessed the child’s forensic interview in October and “all together found that that victim was credible.”

The case took another turn in November, when authorities struggled to find Parks’ cellphone or any surveillance footage from his business. In subsequent charging documents, police alleged that Parks’ wife, 37-year-old Amanda D. Parks, erased all of the information from his phone while authorities were in the middle of searching the couple’s Cody home for it and other evidence. Authorities also listened to a recorded jail call between Jimmy and Amanda Parks in which they believe the couple discussed the potential destruction of a device that may have contained the surveillance footage.

“It’s hard to imagine why a cellphone would be wiped and surveillance footage would be destroyed if there was not incriminating evidence on those devices, which, in the state’s opinion, certainly points towards guilt,” Tucker argued.

Amanda Parks has been charged with misdemeanor charges that assert she served as an accessory after the fact to her husband’s alleged crimes and a felony count of perjury for allegedly lying to a judge about her assets.

Simpson alluded to those allegations as he explained his reasoning for leaving Jimmy Parks’ bond in place — though he made a point of saying that, “I’m not here today to decide truth beyond a reasonable doubt, or if the elements have been proved beyond a reasonable doubt.

“That will be for a jury at a later hearing,” the judge said.

An 11-day trial for Jimmy Parks on the sexual abuse allegations is tentatively set to start on April 13.

Meanwhile, the perjury and accessory charges against Amanda Parks and the perjury charges against Jimmy Parks remain at the circuit court level, after preliminary hearings were postponed at their attorneys’ requests last week. After being arrested in late November, Amanda Parks has been released on a $15,000 surety bond.