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Opening arguments and testimony from five witnesses, including the alleged victim, were heard in the Class A felony child molestation trial of Anthony DeMarco Tuesday in Kosciusko Superior Court 1 with Judge Duane Huffer presiding.
The fourth witnesses and the alleged victim, a teenager, spent more than two hours on the stand Tuesday afternoon.
The teen, currently in the 10th grade, met DeMarco while in the fifth grade at Burket Elementary School. He told the jury that he became friends with DeMarco and then invited DeMarco to his house to ride four-wheelers.
The friendship evolved and the teen started to spend more time with DeMarco, going out to eat, watching movies and hanging out at the Kosciusko County YMCA. The boy said DeMarco visited his house regularly, eating dinner with the family on a regular basis.
In 2002, DeMarco moved in with the boy's family, telling the family his mother and her husband were separating and he had nowhere to go. DeMarco told the family that he would have to drop out of college because he could not afford to stay in school and pay for a place to stay. The family invited DeMarco to move into their home, where DeMarco stayed in the same room with the boy.
The room had one queen-sized bed and the alleged victim told the jury he and DeMarco slept together.
A few weeks after moving into the boy's room, DeMarco allegedly started talking about sexual things and it was after that that various forms of sexual contact began.
"I started to get embarrassed by it," the boy told jurors.
The boy also told the jury he "walked in" when DeMarco was engaged in a sex act with another alleged victim.
"I think (the other boy) felt bad for doing it," said the alleged victim.
DeMarco lived in the house for about a year and a half before the boy said he asked DeMarco to leave.
"I was sick of the stuff we were doing," said the alleged victim.
DeMarco moved out of the house in 2004, but the boy said there was one more sexual encounter after that. In early 2005, DeMarco picked him up one evening to play a game at DeMarco's mother's house. When they arrived at the house, the boy said they could not play the game because DeMarco's mother was sleeping, so DeMarco asked the boy if DeMarco could perform oral act on the boy.
"I don't like him (DeMarco) because of all the stuff he put me through," the boy said.
During the cross examination by DeMarco's attorney Michael Lambert, the boy said DeMarco never told him not to tell anyone about the sexual encounters.
The attorney also asked if the boy knew if DeMarco had any unusual physical characteristics, specifically in the genital area, and the boy said DeMarco has only a one testicle, the left.
When asked how he knew that, the boy responded, "Because I've seen it."
In other testimony Tuesday, the jury heard from a former female friend and coworker of DeMarco's.
The woman told the jury that in early 2005, DeMarco said he and the alleged victim "went for a ride and had fun," "said (the boy) had done favors" during the ride and "said him and (the boy) had done things."
She said her impression was that DeMarco and the boy were more than just friends and had "an intimate relationship."
The jury also heard testimony from a teen who said DeMarco asked him if he would perform oral sex, and the teen said no. When the teen asked why, he said DeMarco answered, "Because (the alleged victim) did it."
The teen also said DeMarco called him and asked him to "find out what was going on (at the YMCA) and let him (DeMarco) know" after DeMarco was suspended from his duties at the YMCA in March 2005.
After talking to YMCA Chief Executive Officer Steve Jungbauer, the teen said he went to the Warsaw Police Department and talked to Det. Joe Stanley. While being interviewed by Stanley, the teen said he received a couple calls from DeMarco. The teen then agreed to record a call to DeMarco while at the police department.
A transcript from the call to DeMarco was admitted into evidence.
According to the transcript read in court, DeMarco told the teen "(You're) gonna get me in a whole hell of a lot of trouble. ... Why couldn't you just say no (when asked about the charges). ... It looks like I am a f***ing child rapist or something."
The teen also said DeMarco supplied other kids with alcohol and showed him pornography on a computer.
Jungbauer took the stand and testified that DeMarco was employed by the Kosciusko County YMCA and was suspended pending an investigation when allegations of child molestation surfaced. Jungbauer said he did not tell DeMarco why he was being suspended, only that he received complaints that needed to be investigated. He then asked DeMarco not to talk with other people until the investigation was complete.
The final witness of the afternoon was Megan Leckrone Stier, DeMarco's former girlfriend. Stier testified that she and DeMarco dated "off and on" from 1998 to 2004. She said she had a sexual relationship with DeMarco, but they "did not have sex often." She also said DeMarco had only one testicle.
Stier knew DeMarco lived with the alleged victim and shared a room for a time. Although DeMarco got his own room next to the victim's room, "he rarely used it as a bedroom and still slept with (the alleged victim)."
The trial resumed at 8:30 a.m. today as the prosecution continued to present its case.
