LISBON — A Beloit man facing 85 felony counts related to his possession of multiple images of minors engaged in sexual acts is still scheduled to face a jury trial early next year.

Joseph Paul Sabella, 38, Stanley Drive, appeared Monday before Columbiana County Common Pleas Court Judge Megan Bickerton for a status hearing, accompanied by his defense attorney Ron Yarwood.

A final status hearing at 10:40 a.m. Feb. 9.

Sabella, a former chaplain at Aultman Alliance Community Hospital, was charged with 10 counts of second-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person and 75 counts of fourth-degree felony pandering obscenity involving a minor or impaired person.

In an affidavit filed by an agent of the Mahoning Valley Human Trafficking Task Force in county Municipal Court, investigators found that on April 8 this year, Sabella allegedly uploaded and published an image of a child being sexually assaulted by an adult male.

On July 2, agents executed a search warrant at his Beloit home and learned he was allegedly in possession of 66 printed images of minors engaging in sex acts and 64 printed images of minors in a state of nudity.

The affidavit said “a brief perusal of numerous electronic devices seized indicated Sabella was in possession of thousands of images of child sexual assault material” and also “thousands of images of minors engaged in sex acts and in states of nudity.”

Sabella’s jury trial is scheduled at 9 a.m. Feb. 17. He remains free on a $50,000 cash or surety bond.

(Staff writer Mary Ann Greier contributed to this story)