The matter of a Vandalia man charged with 10 counts of possession of child pornography will now be decided by a judge instead of a jury following a final pre-trial on Thursday. 37-year old Ryan J. Koontz of Vandalia appeared in Fayette County Court Thursday afternoon with attorney Ed Veltman for the pre-trial hearing in which Veltman informed the court that his client wished to vacate the jury trial demand and instead move forward to a bench trial. Veltman stated that he had been over everything in the case and did not foresee any more motions needing to be filed. After confirmation from State’s Attorney Josh Morrison that his prosecution partner for the case from the Attorney General’s office would still be available on the day of February 19 which was previously set for the jury trial, bench trial was set for that same day at 9am. Koontz is charged with 8 counts of possession of child pornography, which are Class 2 felonies and punishable by 3-7 years in prison, and 2 counts of reproducing or disseminating child pornography of a child reasonably known to be under 13 years of age, which are punishable by 6-30 years in prison. He remains in the Fayette County Jail.