New Law Allows Prior-Act Evidence in Wash. Child Molestation Trial
Roger Alan Scherner, 79, allegedly molested multiple relatives over a period of decades, according to court records.
But he was never prosecuted, until now, after being charged with molesting a 7-year-old relative during a family vacation in 2002. And his case, which is now at trial in King County, is for the first time making use of a new Washington law that allows more prior-act evidence to be introduced in sex crime cases, reports the Seattle Times.
As a result, an unnamed 49-year-old woman, who is another relative of Scherner’s, testified against him this week, claiming that he raped her 33 years ago, while she was in California on a family vacation, the newspaper reports.
“Having this other person or people say, ‘This happened to me too, in the same kind of way,’ can absolutely increase convictions,” says Mary Ellen Stone, the director of the King County Sexual Assault Resource Center.. “Juries can see, ‘Oh, there’s a pattern, he’s done this before.’ It can combat the idea that they can’t convict an 80-year-old guy. Because now they can see he’s been doing this for the past 40 years.”
Under the new law, a judge decides whether to admit the prior-act evidence, based on factors such as the similarity of the alleged incidents. Scherner’s counsel objected to the introduction of the prior-act evidence at his trial, but apparently did not comment for the Times article.
If convicted, he could be sentenced to as much as 16½ years in prison.
Additional coverage:
Monterey County Herald: “Carmel resident faces molest trial”
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