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Sutton fights abuse allegations

HOLLIDAYSBURG — An Altoona man went on trial Monday in Blair County Court, accused of indecently assaulting two young girls in December or January.

Michael Francis Sutton, 24, was staying overnights with a girlfriend at a Fairway Drive apartment when the girlfriend’s 6-year-old daughter made allegations against Sutton that also applied to her 4-year-old sister.

“He touched us in the wrong place, me and my sister,” the girl said Monday while testifying at a location outside the courtroom while the jury and Sutton watched a live video transmission of the girl’s testimony.

The girl, who clutched a stuffed dog while testifying, pointed to the area between the dog’s rear legs when she was asked to describe where Sutton touched her and her sister.

“All we have here are allegations … that come from the mind of a 6-year-old,” defense attorney John Siford advised jurors in an opening statement, where he asked them to critically examine the limited evidence they would be hearing.

Assistant District Attorney Derek Elensky asked the jurors to pay attention to the girl’s words and what she said happened.

“We have a brave child here, 6 years old, willing to come forward and say exactly how she was assaulted by this man, when he was dating her mother,” Elensky said.

Altoona police initiated an investigation that led them to charge Sutton with two counts each of aggravated indecent assault of a child, unlawful contact with a minor, corruption of minors and indecent assault of a person less than 13 years old.

Based on the investigation, police allege that Sutton, on an unspecified date, took the girls into a bedroom after their mother left the apartment to tend to laundry, where the alleged assault occurred.

“He sticked his hand inside my pants,” the girl said during a Jan. 23 interview at the Child Advocacy Center, which was played in court Monday for the jurors to watch.

Siford, through cross-examination of Jackie Bevans who conducted the interview, pointed to the child’s inconsistent statements. At one point, the child said what happened with Sutton happened “one day” and later she says it happened “every morning,” Siford said.

Judge Timothy M. Sullivan is presiding over the trial that resumes this morning. While the trial is scheduled through Wednesday, it could wrap up today depending on the length of remaining witness testimony.

Mirror Staff Writer Kay Stephens is at 946-7456.

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