A new jury trial for Richard David Scheib, accused of criminal sexual conduct with two children, has been scheduled for July 12, according to Freeborn County District Court records. 

Scheib faces two counts of first-degree sexual conduct with sexual penetration, involving two girls, who were ages 11 and 9 at the time. He also faces two counts of criminal sexual conduct in the second-degree, one count for each of the two girls. 

According to court papers, detective Frank Kohl interviewed the girls, who were allegedly sexually assaulted in 2008, and they described suspicions found in a diary and how they were to keep the contact a secret. 

The case was declared a mistrial in January after Scheib’s online Facebook account had two pending “friend” suggestions from jurors. 

Scheib told the court this happened inadvertently because he desires more and more friends without hardly looking at who the friends might be, according to court records. Having more friends benefits the Facebook games Farm Town and FarmVille. Sometimes Facebook sends friend suggestions to users based on friends of friends. 

However, he could face jury tampering charges. 

Scheib’s lawyer Peggy Rockow did not immediately return a phone call on the matter Tuesday. 

Fleeing police

Scheib is in the Freeborn County jail on a bail of more than $1 million  — after he reportedly fled from police last week. The pursuit started at the Freeborn County Courthouse and ended in the South Margaretha Avenue neighborhood.

He appeared Monday on the charge of fleeing police to request a default hearing. 

This will be June 7 at 1 p.m., according to his court schedule. 

On April 26, Scheib allegedly pushed an Albert Lea Police Department detective out of the way in the parking lot before getting in his purple Dodge Caravan, removed his global positioning system band and led police officers on a three-mile chase. 

The chase ended when Scheib struck a fire hydrant on South Margaretha Avenue and then ran by foot from police for a short while before being apprehended. 

The next day, Freeborn County District Court Judge Steve Schwab set bail for the sexual conduct charges at $1 million. Bail for the fleeing charge was set at $200,000, and bail on a misdemeanor harassment charge was set at $6,000.