Basically UNNAMED DAD and his legal team muddied the waters with the same old Parental Alienation Syndrome (PAS) game. This is a well-known tactic used by sexual abusers--and it worked. Basically, we accuse the mom and anybody else who is collaborating the abuse of "alienation" or coaching and the like--even if there is no evidence of the same.
http://www.powhatantoday.com/index.php/news/article/child-abuse-case-declared-a-mistrial/27329/
Child abuse case declared a mistrial
Published: April 02, 2012
by Emily Darrell
Staff Writer
(Due to the nature of this case and the age of the alleged victim, names and other identifying details have been purposely omitted from this story.)
After approximately 6 hours of deliberation on Friday, a 12-member jury in Powhatan Circuit Court could not reach a decision as to whether the defendant had committed eight counts of sexual abuse against his daughter, when she was aged 5 to age 9.
The girl, now 11, testified against her father in court, alleging that he inappropriately touched her on a regular basis for around four years – from the time she was in kindergarten to the time her parents separated and her father moved out of the house.
The defendant testified that he had in fact allowed his younger daughter to regularly sleep in his bed while his wife, the girl’s mother, was downstairs working late. However, he denied that he had ever touched her in an inappropriate or sexual manner.
Both the defendant and his attorneys made mention of an alimony case that occurred two months prior to the girl telling a therapist about the abuse. The defense seemed to be building an implicit case against the mother, apparently hoping the jury would believe she had coached or prompted her daughter to lie as a sort of vengeance for not getting the alimony she had requested.
The therapist, who had been hired by the girl’s mother to help her cope with her parents’ divorce, told the court that the girl had confessed to her about the abuse “spontaneously” and without prompting or leading questions.
The girl’s older sister, who is a student at Powhatan High School, testified that she often saw her father carrying her younger sister into his bedroom while the mother was downstairs working or watching TV. Allegedly, neither the mother nor the older sister were aware of the abuse until the girl told her therapist about it.
Though the mother was present in the courtroom on Friday, she did not take the stand.
Assistant Commonwealth’s Attorney Tara Hatcher and Commonwealth’s Attorney Bob Beasley were the prosecuting attorneys.
Because the jury could not reach a unanimous decision a mistrial was declared. Beasley said the Commonwealth’s Attorney’s Office plans to retry the case.