SHAWNEE, Okla.—A former third-grade teacher and an ex-college professor who face multiple counts of sexually exploiting schoolgirls and related charges are not likely to go on trial this year, a defense attorney said Tuesday.

Pottawatomie County District Judge John Canavan Jr. had been expected to set a trial date Tuesday for former McCloud teacher Kimberly Crain of Shawnee and retired professor of early childhood development Gary Doby of Bloomsburg, Pa. Instead, Crain and Doby each waived their right to a speedy trial and asked for a trial date to be set later.

Canavan ordered them to return to Pottawatomie County District Court on Oct. 2.

Crain's attorney, Craig Webb, said he was not ready to go to trial and is still lining up expert witnesses to provide testimony for the defense. Doby's attorney, Karen Byars, said she does not expect the case to go to trial before January.

Crain, 49, and Doby, 66, have pleaded not guilty to multiple counts of sexual exploitation of a child under 12 and other charges. Crain faces a total of 31 counts and Doby faces 18.

Prosecutors allege Crain took photos of as many as 14 young girls while they changed clothes in her classroom and at her home and then shared the images with Doby.

Students testified at a preliminary hearing that Crain took photos of them in her classroom and during a pizza party at her home while they were wearing tank tops and underwear.

Among evidence introduced in the case was copies of photographs Crain allegedly took of the girls, including photos of naked children that prosecutors said were taken by a hidden video camera as the girls changed clothes.

Several of the students said Crain told them not to tell their parents what they had done. A 10-year-old girl said she reported what had happened to her parents and that her mother cried.

Crain and Doby each face up to life in prison on the lewd molestation charges.