Friday, March 12, 1999
Foster moms tell of girls' emotional scars
BY WALT SCHAEFER
The Cincinnati Enquirer
BATAVIA — A rapt and somber jury of nine men and three women listened Thursday as two foster parents told in graphic detail of sexual acts that two young sisters confided to them while in their care.
Foster mothers Cathy Huhn and Esta Miller also testified that the alleged abuse has left the girls, now 13 and 7 years old, frightened and emotionally scarred.
The girls' mother is on trial here this week, charged with six counts of rape and four counts of felonious assault. The Cincinnati Enquirer is not naming the 34-year-old Bethel woman to protect the identities of the children.
Investigators say the woman allowed the girls to be sexually abused over a period of several years, and herself participated in the sex acts. Clermont County Prosecutor Don White said the girls were sold to neighbors for beer, cigarettes and drugs. The parents permitted sexual encounters with 22 other people, investigators allege.
The charges, filed in 1997, stem from incidents in the early to mid-1990s and came to light through an investigation by county social service agencies and information the girls told the foster parents. Neither girl remains in the care of the two women who testified Thursday.
In her testimony, Ms. Huhn said the older girl “had a dark cloud hanging over her. She was moody ... sad. There was tremendous anger in her.” The girl would pinch herself and push her fingers back trying to break them, she said.
Ms. Huhn recalled trying to wake the girl for the first time: “I touched her and she dove out of bed feet first — scared to death; afraid.” In time, the girl began to tell her of “the sex stuff.”
Ms. Huhn told the court she still visits the girl at a psychiatric hospital outside Greater Cincinnati.
Esta Miller, who cared for the younger girl, decribed a toddler who was often upset, moody and aggressive, who had trouble sleeping and frequent nightmares. Ms. Miller testified that on many nights, she sat with the girl to assure her she was safe. The girl eventually told Ms. Miller of abuse, but said she was afraid because her father said he would cut off her thumb if she told anyone.
The younger girl's father committed suicide in 1997 after being questioned about molesting his stepdaughter and daughter. The father of the older girl has been convicted of raping her and is in prison.
Assistant county prosecutor Daniel Breyer said the rape charges involve both girls while the felonious assault charges involve psychological suffering of the woman's four children, including two sons, now 15 and 9 years old.
The trial continues today before Common Pleas Judge William Walker.
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