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Using anatomically correct dolls, the young girl demonstrated to the jury how Lynn attacked her as she sat watching television on the living room sofa. Despite her attempts to fend him off, he did manage to force himself on her, she said.
According to Commonwealth’s Attorney Peter Luke, Lynn was not charged with rape because the evidence could not establish that he actually penetrated the young girl.
Later, the girl said, Lynn offered her $20 if she promised not to tell anyone about the attack. He also took her shopping to buy a present for her sisters, she said.
The girl testified that she told her mother about Lynn’s advances, but that her mother accused her of lying and sent her to her room. Later, she added, her mother told the other members of the household about her story and Lynn’s youngest brother beat her with a belt to punish her.
It wasn’t until the three sisters went to visit their father in Baltimore for the Christmas holiday that the incident was reported, Mr. Luke told the jury. According to testimony, the family was wrapping presents and listening to the radio. After listening to a song called “Help, Mr. Jesus,” which is the story of a young girl who has been abused, the father asked the children if anything like that had ever happened to them.
At that point, according to testimony, the young girl told her father about the attacks by the Lynn brothers. The father contacted Capt. Ed Streapy of the Rappahannock County Sheriffs Department, who investigated the allegations and arrested the two brothers.
James Lynn denied that any molestation had ever taken place, and said that the girl had fabricated the story because he refused to buy her a large doll she saw while they were shopping.
The girl’s mother, Sharon Purcel Lynn, who was called by the Commonwealth as an adverse witness, said that her daughter made up the story to influence the outcome of a custody dispute with her ex-husband. She accused the eight-year-old of being the ringleader, and coercing her younger sisters to go along with the story.
Under examination by Mr. Luke, however, Mrs. Lynn admitted that before they went to Baltimore for Christmas, the three girls had not seen their father since June, 1987. She also admitted that while she lived in Maryland the girls had been taken away from her by social services authorities because of allegations of child sexual abuse by another person with whom she was staying.
Capt. Streapy testified that the girl’s story had been consistent through several interviews over a period of weeks. A pediatrician in Warrenton who examined the girl for evidence of abuse concurred with Capt. Streapy’s testimony, and said that her attitude indicated to him that she was tell- . ing the truth about the attacks.
See GUILTY, p.12
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