finish line

this last week marked the finish of an extremely long roller coaster ride. and we are so grateful to be done. it was a stressful week, and very trying, but the relief of finally being done is so sweet.

wednesday, trial started. jury selection took until 2, and then i was the first witness after lunch. even though we knew he would try to turn this around and make it about our parenting, it still made us mad.
thursday, elizabeth was scheduled to testify. we took her in early, and some friends helped to curl her hair and make her beautiful (i forgot to take pictures until later in the day, after the curls had fallen!). her original counselor testified ahead of her. shaun and i were asked and elected to stay out of the courtroom during her testimony. we had discovered that she was hesitant to disclose information when we were present. but we have been told by everyone present, even some we didn't know, that she was fabulous. shaun was the first witness after lunch, and then the investigating detective.
friday, the detective finished up, shaun had a one question recall that he was told not to answer, and then the defense brought in their character witnesses. we chose not to stay for anything that we were not needed for. after lunch, the guy took the stand for himself. they finished with proceedings around 5, and then the jury went into deliberation. they finished up around 9. verdict wasn't read until after 10, because no one could find the guy. he was charged with 1 count of sexual abuse of a minor, and 1 charge of lewd conduct with a minor. the jury acquitted him of the lewd conduct charge, but found him guilty of the sexual abuse charge. he was taken into custody that night, and led away. apparently, he wasn't expecting a guilty verdict and certainly not being arrested right then. his sentencing is set for april 5.

i thought that his attorney brought up a lot of information that wasn't really helpful for his side. even if my children were unruly and always walking into peoples houses uninvited, that doesn't give him the right to molest my daughter (those are claims he made). he clarified twice that i had a nursing baby that summer...the jury had 9 women, most of them mothers. his character witnesses apparently constantly contradicted themselves. ie. the playground area had been constructed for everyone, but my children were not invited over (?!).
there was a lot of media coverage for this trial. both local newspapers ran multiple articles, and one of the news channels ran a few segments as well. the video cameras were not in the courtroom when we were there, and for that i'm grateful. one of the people helping us through all this mess told me that they rarely see a sexual abuse case go to trial. the accused usually plea out. elizabeths' original counselor told us that in the 20+ years she's been doing this, this is the only time she's ever had to go to court.
i mentioned to shaun the other night that i hoped that he'd put all his affairs in order. shaun was pretty certain that he hadn't. the guy was completely convinced that he didn't do anything wrong, and that elizabeth had instigated it all.

we are just glad that everything is finally finished. hopefully, now we can move on and put this all behind us!