LAWRENCE, Kan. (AP) — Charges have been dropped against a Lawrence man who was jailed for 1.5 years in a sex crimes case.

Fifty-one-year-old Tracy Releford was charged after an encounter in August 2016 encounter with a 16-year-old girl that moved between Lawrence and Kansas City, Missouri.

The Lawrence Journal-World reports a judge ruled in February that probable cause did not exist to charge Releford with two felonies. Prosecutors dropped a remaining misdemeanor charge but said the case could be refiled.

Trial assistant Jill Spurling says the state's witness didn't show up for the preliminary...