NEW BOSTON, Texas-A Bowie County jury tasked with deciding if a Hooks, Texas, man is guilty of sexually abusing a 9-year-old relative in 2014 is expected to return to the courthouse this morning to continue deliberations.
The jury of six men and six women heard opening statements, testimony and closing arguments Wednesday in the trial of Daniel Mooneyham, 33. The jurors deliberated about three hours Wednesday before 202nd District Judge John Tidwell recessed for the day and sent them home with instructions to return Thursday morning.
Mooneyham testified under questioning from Texarkana lawyer Kristian Young that he believes the alleged victim was coached into making the allegations against him by her mother, a relative of Mooneyham's who has known him since childhood. Young argued that the girl's stepfather disliked Mooneyham and that the girl's mother was in the habit of trying to cause him trouble.
The alleged victim, now 12, testified that Mooneyham threatened her with harm after putting his hands on her in a bedroom of her family's trailer, under questioning from Assistant District Attorney Katie Carter.
"He touched me where he wasn't supposed to," the girl testified. "I knew it wasn't right."
A relative of the alleged victim's mother, who described Mooneyham as like a younger brother to him, testified that the allegations surfaced after Mooneyham attempted to sell him a cellphone. The man said he was looking through the phone when he discovered a video that allegedly showed Mooneyham touching the girl's inner thigh. The man said the girl could be heard saying, "You're heavy."
But no such video was found when the phone was later turned over to investigators and analyzed by experts with the U.S. Secret Service.
The alleged victim testfied that Mooneyham repeatedly called her into a back bedroom of the home with the promise of playing games on his phone.
"There were no games on it," the girl said.
The girl said as she was leaving after the third trip to Mooneyham in the back bedroom where her brothers slept, Mooneyham grabbed her leg and threw her on a bed. She said Mooneyham pressed his stomach to hers and touched her sexually on top of her clothes. The girl said Mooneyham asked her if she knew what a "cool massage" is before she retreated to the living room where her mother was and covered herself with a blanket.
The girl said she later took a shower in her mother's bedroom and that Mooneyham told her, "It would be more fun if you wore shorts."
Mooneyham testified he was roughhousing with the girl and her four younger siblings the night of Oct. 2, 2014, but denies any wrongdoing. Mooneyham denied making any threats or suggestive comments.
After the relative who allegedly watched the questionable video on Mooneyham's phone went to her mother and stepfather, the allegations were brought to authorities.
Melanie Holbrook, a forensic interviewer, testified she saw no signs of coaching when she talked to the alleged victim at the Children's Advocacy Center in Texarkana in late October 2014.
In closing arguments, Carter reminded the jury that they are free to convict Mooneyham of indecency with a child by sexual contact on the victim's testimony alone. Young argued that Mooneyham is not guilty of the conduct alleged and that the allegations stem from the girl's stepfather's and mother's animosity for Mooneyham.
"That small trailer was full of people," Young argued. "He's not a pedophile."
First Assistant District Attorney Mike Shepherd argued that the girl's account is credible and evidence of Mooneyham's guilt.
"He called her back there three times, and the last time she was alone," Shepherd argued. "It took a lot of courage for her to come into this courtroom and face the man who threatened her."
The jury is expected to return to court this morning to continue deliberating. If found guilty, Mooneyham faces two to 20 years in a Texas prison.