Trial stars for man accused of sexually assualting disabled juvenile

A Plains man went to trial on Monday for allegedly sexually assaulting a physically disabled girl.

Now 18, the young woman alleges that she was between the ages of 15 and 17 when the alleged assault took place. Robert Brodie is charged with sexual assault. His trial is scheduled to last until Friday.

The trial began Monday with jury selection and opening statements from both the prosecution and the defense.

On Tuesday the first witnesses were called, including the alleged victim’s mother, who said that Brodie had been alone with her daughter multiple times. She said she hadn’t considered the possibility of sexual assault.

“I trusted him,” she said. She first became suspicious that something could be wrong when she noticed Brodie sitting close to her daughter on a coach. When County Attorney Coleen Magera asked why she had continued to allow Brodie to be alone with her daughter, the alleged victim’s mother said she hadn’t wanted to think that anything could be wrong.

“Your mind doesn’t want to go to those places,” she said.

The mother testified that the way Brodie and her daughter interacted made her a little uncomfortable, but she never thought that anything could have happened.

“I blame myself, because I feel like I put her in this situation,” she said through tears.

Brodie is being represented by defense attorney John Putikka.