A competency evaluation has been ordered for a Chadron man facing 3 counts of 1st-degree sexual assault of a child.

District Judge Travis O’Gorman approved the request by the attorney for 29-year old John Henry O’Donnell during a pre-trial hearing Tuesday morning in Dawes County District Court. No specific timetable was set for the evaluation.

O’Donnell, who remains in custody on $150,000 bail, was arrested in March along with his 39-year old wife Susan, who faces one count of child abuse.

She was also in court Tuesday for pre-trial hearing, but her case was continued to give her attorney more time to review documents and evidence revealed during discovery. Her next court appearance will be June 17.

Chadron police said when the O’Donnells were arrested that it was the culmination of a nearly 4-year investigation that included multiple interviews over multiple years.

John Henry O’Donnell had been arrested in 2007 on charges of negligent child abuse and false reporting, but those charges were dismissed.

The couple’s four minor children were removed from the home at that time by the state, leading to custody and guardianship proceedings that are continuing.