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Two alleged victims of a Warsaw man accused of child molestation and sexual misconduct with a minor took the stand Tuesday in the first day of the man's trial.
Christopher Smith, 34, of Warsaw is accused of touching one girl in an inappropriate sexual manner and having sex with the other.
After a jury was selected Tuesday morning, prosecuting attorney Steve Hearn and defense attorney Jay Rigdon presented their opening arguments. Then Hearn began calling the state's witnesses in the case.
The jury heard complete testimony from two police officers, one victim and one victim's father. The second victim's testimony started late Tuesday afternoon and was scheduled to continue this morning.
The first victim took the stand and told the jury that she met Smith through the other victim in December 2005. She and the other victim went to Smith's house to babysit his children Dec. 3, 2005, while he was working. After Smith got off work, he took the girls to Eastlake Skate Center, where he worked.
After they left the skate center around 11 p.m., after Smith cleaned the facility, they went back to his apartment where they were spending the night.
Both victims testified that when they returned to the house, the two girls were going to sleep in Smith's bed while he slept in another bed with one of his children.
The girl told the jury that Smith got into the bed with her and fondled her, putting his hands under her shirt and in her pants.
"I laid there like (the other victim) told me to," the victim said. She said the other victim told her that if she pretended to sleep, he would leave her alone. "I laid there and began crying."
She said she tried to get away from Smith, but he grabbed her arm, bruising her. Once she got away from Smith, she said, she ran into the living room and told the other victim to get her a telephone.
The victim called her parents to pick her up and went outside to wait for them.
Once her parents arrived, the police were called and Warsaw Police Officer Brian Hupp arrived at the apartment complex to take the report.
The victim's father, who testified earlier in the day, said that when his daughter called him, she was hysterical and could barely tell him where she was. He told the jury the victim was hysterical and kept saying, "He touched me. He touched me."
The second victim told the jury she knew Smith and took care of his children on several occasions starting when she was 13. Shortly after she started babysitting for Smith, the girl said she had sexual intercourse with him. Between June and December 2005, she said she had sex with Smith "three or four times." The first time she had intercourse with Smith, she said she was 13. She also had sexual intercourse with him after her 14th birthday.
The girl also told the jury that on the night of Dec. 3, she and the other victim were sleeping in Smith's bed when Smith told her, "I wanna make a move on your friend."
She told the jury she didn't know what happened between Smith and the first victim to testify because she left the room for a little while when Smith told her to.
When she started to go back into the room, the other victim "came out very hysterical. She grabbed her bag and grabbed her stuff and made me get her the phone so she could call her parents."
When asked if she was making up the story about Smith because she was jealous of him flirting with another girl, she replied, "No, I am not."
The second victim returned to the stand for cross examination as the trial resumed today at 8:30 a.m. in Kosciusko Circuit Court with Judge Rex Reed presiding. Testimony is expected to finish this afternoon.
