Defense wants to rebut inference that 14-year-old’s suicide was caused by alleged molestation
A jury was selected today in the case of a man accused of molesting a 14-year-old Effingham County girl who committed suicide eight months later.
Michael Peter Parfenuk, 61, is accused of molesting the girl on Jan. 29, 2011. She killed herself with a rifle in her parents’ home on Sept. 21, 2011, four houses away from Parfenuk’s house.
Parfenuk was indicted in June 2011 on two counts of child molestation and two counts of sexual battery on a person under 16.
Court documents indicate the girl called 911 the day of the alleged assault. Parfenuk was arrested the same day.
Six men and six women were chosen this morning as jurors. They were released and asked to return at 9:30 a.m. tomorrow. Chief Judge William E. Woodrum Jr. said the trial should last one or two days.
Defense Attorney Craig Bonnell has said in court documents that the state’s case consists entirely of statements made by the alleged victim to third persons, including her family members and deputies and investigators of the sheriff’s office.
He said there’s not any physical evidence of Parfenuk’s guilt.
A relative of the girl told broadcasters at the time of her death that she was a victim of bullying. Bonnell also said she left a letter that attributed her death to a fight with her mother.
Bonnell said before jury selection today that he wouldn’t want to prejudice potential jurors by only asking them what they know about the suicide without also mentioning the family’s explanations that the girl was bullied.
The “defendant is entitled to rebut any inference that the jury may draw that (the girl’s) suicide is connected to the allegations against the defendant,” he has said in court papers.
Assistant District Attorney Ben Edwards said today the state is not going to try to prove a causal link between the alleged molestation and the suicide.
“Informing them of additional facts whether relevant or not will tend to further pollute the jury pool,” he said.
Edwards said reasons for the suicide “would be purely speculative” and would attempt to impugn the character of the victim, which he said the court would not allow.
Woodrum said there was no need to decide before jury selection if the suicide should be an issue before the jury. He said he would make appropriate rulings at the appropriate time as the trial continues.
Bonnell said in court documents that he will introduce evidence of the “alleged victim’s flirtatious conduct toward defendant.” In a recorded interrogation, Parfenuk admits having given the girl “a brief kiss.”
“The defendant’s rejection of (the girl) led to her anger and retaliation by making false charges against him,” Bonnell said.