I just finished being a juror on a criminal trial. Sexual assault on an eight-year-old girl. By her mother’s boyfriend. Who elected to represent himself at trial. Which, among other bizarre results, meant the little girl (now 11) had to be cross-examined by her assailant.
The three sexual assault incidences occurred in fall of 2005, and the girl got up the courage to tell her mom in January 2006. Her mom called the local police and they interviewed all parties and then faxed the case over to the county investigators, who never received the paperwork and so nothing happened. The defendant convinced the mother that because the investigation hadn’t gone anywhere, he was innocent and the daughter was lying. They got back together.
In June 2007, the girl’s father (who is the hero in this story) got out of federal prison where he’d been for nine years for selling drugs. He learned from his son what had happened to his daughter. To his credit, he decided to call the police instead of killing the guy, which he knew would only send him back to prison and his kids needed him. While the police worked on the case, he worked on getting full custody of his two kids, which the wife agreed to, and they all moved in with his grandparents. This is the bright spot in this young girl’s life.
We found the defendant guilty. Hopefully that’s another.
