LIBERTY, Texas (AP) ? Prosecutors will begin making their case Wednesday in the first trial over the alleged repeated sexual assault of a middle school student two years ago by men and boys from her small Texas community.
Eric McGowen, one of 14 men accused of having sex with a girl who was 11 years old at the time, is charged with aggravated sexual assault of a child and faces up to life in prison if convicted.
Prosecutors say the girl, now 13, was assaulted at least five times from mid-September through early December of 2010. McGowen, 20, is accused of assaulting her that October.
Eight of the 20 defendants accused in the case have pleaded guilty, including all six juveniles. A gag order has prevented prosecutors and defense attorneys from commenting about the case, and McGowen's trial was expected to yield new details about the attacks.
Authorities began investigating in December 2010 after one of the girl's friends told a teacher he watched a cellphone video of her being raped in an abandoned trailer.
The case sparked outrage in Cleveland, the community of roughly 9,000 residents 45 miles northeast of Houston that was home to the defendants and victim. Some residents drew widespread condemnation for suggesting the girl was partly responsible because they say she wore makeup, looked older than her age and wasn't properly supervised by her parents.
The case also has been complicated by a belief among many in the predominantly black neighborhood where several of the suspects live that the arrests were racially motivated. All of the suspects are black, while the girl is Hispanic.
The trial is being held in nearby Lincoln, the county seat.
On Tuesday, McGowen was dealt a setback when state District Judge Mark Morefield ruled that prosecutors could admit as evidence a videotaped police interview of McGowen in which he admitted he and eight other men took turns having sex with the girl, sometimes two at a time, the Houston Chronicle reported.
In the video, which was played in court without the jury present, McGowen initially denied ever touching the girl, but he later broke down and told investigators he engaged in oral sex with her, the paper reported. He said one of the others penetrated the girl with a beer bottle.
Some of those present for the alleged attack made videos or took cellphone photos, McGowen said. Reporters weren't allowed in the courtroom when that footage was played.
McGowen's lawyer, Matthew Poston, sought unsuccessfully to have McGowen's statements to investigators deemed inadmissible, arguing that police had an arrest warrant for his client but hadn't served it when he was brought to the station for questioning, the paper reported.
Prosecutor Joe Warren pointed out that McGowen was advised of his rights on video before he was questioned.
One of the two adults who pleaded guilty in the case received a 15-year prison term and the other is awaiting sentencing. The six juveniles each received 7-year prison terms that were suspended, putting them on probation for that amount of time.
Most of the adult defendants in the case face charges of aggravated sexual assault of a child, while four face a charge of continuous sexual abuse of a child.
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