LAKE HAVASU CITY – A Lake Havasu City man accused of sex offenses involving his own daughter and her friend of similar age is standing trial in Kingman. Attorneys presented opening statements Monday in the case against Thomas Workman.
Deputy Mohave County attorney Amanda Claerhout said Workman, 50, is charged with the continuous sexual abuse of a child for illegal sexual activity with his daughter, beginning when she was seven-years-old and ending six years later.
Workman is charged with three counts of sexual conduct with a minor, one count of attempted sexual conduct with a minor and child molestation involving the second alleged victim. Claerhout said his daughter’s friend was 13-years-old when Workman began involving her in a broad range of sexual activity in 2019.
It was noted during the attorney presentations that the girls brought their allegations against Workman about three years apart, and that no charges arose from the first occasion.
Claerhout said Lake Havasu City police arranged a confrontation call when his daughter’s friend implicated Workman. That’s where authorities monitor a phone call involving an alleged victim trying to engage in conversation that generates incriminating statements from a suspect.
Claerhout told the jury she’ll play a brief portion of what she said was about an hour-long confrontation call, that she said elicited sexual activity admissions by Workman. “He talks about all of the things that he did to her,” she said.
Defense attorney Virginia Crews urged the jury to pay close attention to varying timelines and inconsistencies she said that will be evident during the course of the trial and the testimony of the alleged victims. She also encouraged the panel to consider what might motivate discrepancies in the information.
Superior Court judge Derek Carlisle said the trial will continue through Thursday.
