Trial under way in child sex crime case

Douglas County prosecutors in a Eudora sex crime case plan to show jurors video of the suspect’s interview with police that includes statements he might not have had control of his mental capacities during the alleged acts.

Prosecutors accuse the 27-year-old man of raping and molesting a 5-year-old girl over a period from Aug. 1, 2010, to May 31, 2011. He faces one count of child rape and two counts of aggravated criminal sodomy.

Attorneys spent most of Monday selecting the jury before chief assistant district attorney Amy McGowan gave her opening statement.

McGowan said last July the suspect told Eudora police it was possible he could have molested the girl but said he did not remember it.

“Other than someone making her full of drugs and making her think it was me, my only other option was to think it was myself, not really there. I don’t know how to explain it,” the man said, according to a Power Point presentation McGowan showed to jurors.

A family member had called police in 2011 after the girl had made allegations against the man. McGowan said the girl earlier had recanted the allegations in 2010, but they resurfaced a year later.

The prosecutor said a child abuse investigator who interviewed the girl is expected to testify.

Defense attorney Hatem Chahine is scheduled to give his opening statement to jurors at 9 a.m. today.

The Journal-World generally does not identify sex crime suspects unless they are convicted.