NAPPANEE — A local man was released from jail Friday without having to post bond while awaiting trial on a child-molesting charge after the divided Indiana Supreme Court ordered the release Thursday.

The state’s highest court ruled that Scott F. Logan, 40, of 1200 Main St. Apt. 407, Nappanee, had been held longer than criminal trial rules allow and instructed Judge George Biddlecome to allow Logan to go free while he waits for his trial to start.

The trial is scheduled to begin June 4 in Elkhart Superior Court 3.

Logan was arrested Aug. 7, 2009, a week after prosecutors charged him with molesting a child in April of that year. He’s remained jailed since then with bond set at $50,000.

A couple of months later, Logan’s attorney asked for a delay, the first of many in court records.

Under Indiana’s Criminal Rule 4, “No defendant shall be detained in jail on a charge, without a trial, for a period in aggregate embracing more than six (6) months from the date the criminal charge against such defendant is filed, or from the date of his arrest on such charge,” according to the Supreme Court order.

The two exceptions are for delays caused by the defendant or those caused by court congestion.

If person is held in custody for longer, they’re either entitled to release without bond or to have charges dismissed.

There are delays caused by court congestion and caused by Logan’s attorneys noted in the court records, but the Supreme Court ruled that other delays added up to more than six months.

The ruling was made by Chief Justice Brent Dickson and justices Frank Sullivan and Robert Rucker. The two newest justices, Steven David and Mark Massa, both voted to deny Logan’s request.

Logan’s attorneys repeatedly asked Biddlecome to release Logan under Criminal Rule 4, but never appealed his denials until filing the request with the Supreme Court earlier this month, according to Biddlecome.

Logan’s June 4 trial date is actually the seventh time he’s been on the trial schedule, though it’s earlier than the July 9 date to which he’d agreed earlier this year.

In most of the cases, the delays happened because older cases pushed his trial back. When his trial was scheduled for February of this year, though, Biddlecome bumped Logan’s case in favor of a newer case.

Logan faces up to eight years in prison if he’s convicted on the charge.

If Logan doesn’t show up for his trial, the trial could proceed in his absence, something about which Biddlecome warned Logan during a final pre-trial conference Thursday.