Tyler

By CASEY KNAUPP
Staff Writer

An 8-year-old girl broke down on the witness stand Wednesday as she testified about being repeatedly molested by Mark Head, who also testified and denied the allegations, claiming the girl’s mother put her up to charging him because she was mad at him.

Head, 41, a truck driver from Lindale, is on trial for two counts of aggravated sexual assault of a child for the alleged June 28, 2007, incident. He could face up to life in prison if convicted.

The victim said she was 7 when she and her mother and siblings lived with Head. She said she was sitting on the couch when Head told her to take off her pants and she detailed how he molested her. During the incident, she said she felt like she was a “bad girl” and, afterwards, he told her “to keep it a secret.” She said when he tried to molest her the next time, she said no.

The girl testified Head had rubbed her inappropriately on several other occasions before, beginning when she was 6, and taught her how to French kiss. She began crying during her testimony and had to take a break. At least one of the jurors was seen crying during the victim’s testimony.

After the girl finally told her mother, she was sent to a counselor, who then referred her to Child Protective Services and Smith County Sheriff officials became involved. The counselor and CPS worker each testified about their conversations with the girl.

The girl’s mother testified they lived with Head, her best friend, for about 15 months before they moved out on July 2, 2007. She said he was not her boyfriend.

Shirley Bridges, a close friend of the victim’s mother, said she was asked to help her out with a situation the mother couldn’t deal with. She said while asking the victim if Head had done anything to her, the girl was scared and timid. She said she became concerned and told her mother something needed to be done about it.

Ms. Bridges said the woman never seemed angry or vengeful toward Head and she would never lie for her.

Head said he was friends with the girl’s mother, who needed a place to stay with her children, and he fell in love with her. He said she was his girlfriend, although they did not have a sexual relationship because he was impotent.

Head said they had fights because she wanted to get married and he wouldn’t. She also got mad on other occasions because he wouldn’t buy her a van or a carton of cigarettes.

He said the allegations by the girl were not true. The girl was lying because her mother told her to say it, he said. When asked by the prosecutor how the girl would know the details of how he molested her, he said her mother taught her what to say.

“She’s going to do what her momma tells her to,” he said.

“It’s been a nightmare for me … there’s no way I’d hurt none of them girls,” he said, tearing up.

Head said when the police came to arrest him he thought there must be some mistake.

“Why would anybody do that?” he asked. “I love that little girl more than anything in the world.”

Head claimed he was the victim in the case.

He said he didn’t cry when the girl broke down in tears on the witness stand, but he was hurting too during her testimony. Later, he said the girl could have been crying on the stand because she knew she was lying.

Diane Fisher, a longtime neighbor and friend of Head’s, testified the girl told her the allegations were made up and her mother and Ms. Bridges told her to say it had happened. She said she never tried to contact law enforcement or the district attorney’s office to inform them it was all a lie; but she told the defense attorney several months ago.

Ms. Fisher also testified about how the girl’s mother had been mad at Head.

The mother said she never told Ms. Fisher she was mad at Head because he wouldn’t marry her or buy her a minivan. Instead, the neighbor, after learning from her daughter what had happened, said, “Oh my God the things that baby told me. I hope they get him,” she said.

The trial will continue today in 7th District Judge Kerry Russell’s court. Assistant Smith County district attorneys Richard Vance and Greg Cole are prosecuting the case while Guy Conine is representing the defendant.

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