A Fort Carson soldier facing 64 charges related to sexually assaulting a child under 15 and possessing thousands of illegal images of children will wait until May for a preliminary hearing in the case.

Judge Samuel Evig reluctantly granted the motion to delay again made by an attorney representing Sgt. 1st Class Marquez Parker following the filing of new charges and the lack of a decision on what charges, if any, will be prosecuted by the military instead of the 4th Judicial District.

Parker is accused of producing an unknown amount of the 28,000 child sexual abuse materials allegedly recovered by police in residential areas of Colorado Springs. It remains unclear how many victims are involved in the case.

Hours before Thursday’s 9 a.m. hearing, the prosecution filed 15 new counts against Parker of sexually assaulting a child while in a position of trust.

The 4th Judicial District initially charged Parker in November with one count of possessing child sexual abuse materials and another for distributing it.

In the following months, the prosecution swapped those charges for 14 counts of sexual assault on a child less than 15 and 35 charges relating to at least one victim younger than 12, including 28 counts of sexual exploitation of a child.

Two continuances granted in the case in February and on Thursday have given lawyers a total of three additional months to prepare to argue whether the 4th Judicial District has probable cause to charge Parker with the 64 counts he is facing.

The prosecution plans to call four law enforcement witnesses to the stand to prove its case, including officers from Fort Carson’s Criminal Investigation Division (CID) and CSPD.

Meanwhile, the inability of the 4th Judicial District Attorney’s Office and the military to decide which agency will prosecute the 64 charges has left Parker’s attorney, Joshua Lindley, unable to negotiate a potential plea deal.

“Are we negotiating or are we not?” Lindley rhetorically asked the court.

Prosecutor Shelby Crow told the judge she hoped District Attorney Michael Allen and CID would be able to meet to decide on the charges by the new preliminary hearing date in May.

If the military were to prosecute any charges, it would likely be the 28 counts related to possessing, creating and distributing child sexual abuse materials, Crow said.

Still, Evig told the lawyers he did not want to be “casting blame” on them for the delay, but that this would be his final continuance of Parker’s preliminary hearing.

“The case has to move forward. … Regardless of whether the military is taking all, some or none of those [charges], the court has to act,” Evig said while granting the motion for a continuance.

The judge told both parties that the charges must be “moving forward or not” at the next hearing.

As part of the continuance, Parker waived his right to a preliminary hearing within 35 days of being charged with the 15 new counts. He had waived his right to do so for the other 49 counts in a previous hearing.

A preliminary hearing on all 64 counts is scheduled May 18 in an El Paso County courtroom.

Law enforcement witnesses during the hearing are anticipated to detail Parker’s alleged crimes in El Paso County, something that all involved agencies have refused to comment on outside of court documents obtained by The Gazette.

Those documents show Parker was arrested in November at Fort Carson after police discovered he allegedly possessed and distributed a large quantity of child sexual abuse materials, according to previous Gazette reporting.

Further investigation found he allegedly had 15 instances of unlawful sexual contact with a child less than 15 and created child sexual abuse material of a child younger than 12.

Fountain police began investigating Parker in early 2025 after an anonymous tip, before it was taken over in March 2025 by CID, under the Department of the Army, after a search warrant allegedly discovered some of the 28,000 materials police eventually found.

A spokesperson with the Fountain Police Department told The Gazette in November that it is the department’s normal procedure to hand investigations involving soldiers to CID.

Colorado Springs police were later requested by CID to take over as the lead agency.

Barring another arrest, Parker will appear out of custody during his preliminary hearing, as he did on Thursday, after posting a bond in November and an increased bond amount on Christmas Eve.

Parker’s first assignment to Fort Carson was from 2017 to 2020, before returning in 2023, according to previous reporting by The Gazette. He planned to extend his time in the area and renewed a two-year lease in October.

Parker is assigned to the 3rd Armored Brigade Combat Team, 4th Infantry Division, a Fort Carson official previously told The Gazette. He works as a 91M Bradley Fighting Vehicle System maintainer.

The sergeant 1st class is a recipient of the Meritorious Service Medal and has earned 12 other military awards across his 15 years of service.

A spokesperson did not respond to a request for comment regarding the case and any restrictions Parker may have.