KINGMAN – Trial began Monday for a Kingman man charged with a variety of sex offenses involving two Kingman boys under the age of 15. Defense attorney Greg Pridham told a Mohave County Superior Court jury that Alexander Vaughan is innocent and should be acquitted of child molestation and eight counts of sexual conduct with a minor.
Pridham instructed jurors to measure the testimony of the alleged victims to calculate contradictions and inconsistencies in their stories. He said he anticipated they will vary in their accounts of who was present, where the crimes occurred and over what period of time the activity played out.
Deputy Mohave County Attorney Meghan Gallagher argued the victims were young boys under the age of 10 when the crimes began in 2010, that they are embarrassed by what happened to them and that they don’t really want to testify before the panel.
“They don’t want to talk about this,” Gallagher said. “They became victims before they were even in middle school.”
Gallagher told the jury that an expert witness will testify why crimes initiated in 2010 were not reported until last year and why the victims kept visiting the defendant after the abuse began. The prosecutor said their family lives were so bad that the victims still visited where violated on repeated occasions.
Pridham told jurors that reasonable doubt should dictate acquittal.
“The only reasonable verdict is not guilty, and I’ll ask that you return that verdict,” Pridham said.
Judge Doug Camacho said the trial should conclude Thursday or Friday.
