Digg|
Save|
License|
Print|
E-mail|
Double-click any word or phrase in the story to search this site.
March 25, 2008 - 11:26PM
Ex-volunteer minister's molestation trial begins
Comments | RecommendDavid Biscobing, Tribune
James Ward Chapman III was a trusted family friend. The parents of a 13-year-old girl who claims Chapman molested her often dropped her off at his home on weekends.
The girl had known him since she was 4 years old and considered his wife and children friends. She was even in the Chapmans' wedding.
However, that all changed one night in December 2006, when Chapman crawled into bed with the girl, removed her shirt and fondled her, prosecutor Amy Sitver told a Maricopa County Superior Court jury in Mesa on Tuesday.
"It's a case about the defendant abusing his position of trust and as a fatherly figure to fulfill his sexual desires," she said in opening statements at Chapman's trial.
Chapman, 40, a former volunteer minister at First United Methodist Church of Gilbert, is accused of child molestation and child abuse.
The defense was brief and direct in response, asking jurors only to keep an open mind and to listen to all the testimony before making a decision.
Chapman was arrested in July after the girl told a school counselor that he had molested her.
The girl didn't tell anyone for several months because Chapman told her not to, court records state. The counselor notified police.
Records show that after detectives interviewed Chapman, he confessed to touching the girl inappropriately.
The trial is expected to last through Thursday, and the first day moved quickly, with jurors hearing testimony from the girl immediately after opening statements.
It's the Tribune's policy not to release names of possible sex-crime victims.
The girl, who is deaf and has a slight mental disability, spoke through a sign-language interpreter.
She was calm on the stand, and answered questions deliberately and expressively.
For 30 minutes, the girl retraced that night. She said that he entered the room wearing only boxers and that she tried pushing him away and telling him to stop.
Chapman kept a straight face during her testimony, swiveling in his chair and sometimes dropping his head.
Chapman initially told police he didn't molest the girl. But after he stumbled through a lie-detector test, he confessed to touching the girl, records show.
The defense unsuccessfully attempted to have Chapman's confession to police removed from the trial in a hearing Monday, arguing that he was intimidated by detectives and that his admission was coerced during the four-hour interrogation.
Chapman was also misled into believing that the police had DNA evidence when they did not, his lawyer said.
News updates are sent daily. You can unsubscribe at any time.
Please add your comments, but follow these guidelines to keep this a safe, credible place for discussing the news: