11-year-old victim testifies in rape, child pornography case
Published: February 14, 2012
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ST. THOMAS - An 11-year-old girl who testified in federal court Monday said Akeem Gumbs, 21, molested her twice a week - orally and vaginally - from 2009 to 2011.
She said the abuse persisted until federal agents arrested Gumbs on March 19 on one sexual exploitation charge.
An investigation revealed the abuse was filmed and photographed, leaving Gumbs facing 31 criminal charges: five counts of producing child pornography between Jan. 24 and July 23, 2010; possessing child pornography; and 25 counts of first-degree aggravated rape between October 2009 and March 2011.
Gumbs, who has no siblings, graduated from Charlotte Amalie High School in 2009, months before the attacks began. Gumbs is out on bail.
During the trial's beginning Monday in U.S. District Court, Gumbs fidgeted and twisted his chair at the defense table and cupped his right hand over his chin and mouth as the victim testified, glancing at her and then facing the courtroom gallery.
On the stand in a courtroom of adults, the victim paused in silence as the prosecution asked her questions. Her shoulders rose and fell with each deep breath.
She recalled the initial assault, but she paused repeatedly while recounting what happened.
"It started when I went to the kitchen," the victim testified. "Akeem put a belt over my eyes. It happened in my aunty's bedroom."
She said Gumbs forced her to undress and raped her on the bed.
"He take down my pants and my panty," she said.
"Did it hurt?" asked Assistant U.S. Attorney Denise Hinds.
"Yes," the victim testified.
The victim said Gumbs photographed the attacks and described some examples.
"He told my sister to get out and he shut the door and he covered my mouth," she said. "He was recording and taking pictures."
She said Gumbs used a black camera.
U.S. Public Defender Gabriel Villegas asked the victim whether anyone told her what to say in the courtroom.
"Do you know the difference between a truth and a lie?" Villegas asked.
"Yes," the victim testified.
"Are you saying these things about Akeem because you are trying to protect someone else?" Villegas asked.
"No," the victim said.
The victim was excused, and her silence on the stand was replaced as she left the courtroom with a wail so loud it filled the courtroom - and stalled proceedings.
District Judge Curtis Gomez excused the jurors for a recess and admonished the prosecution for not trying harder to prevent the girl's emotional outburst.
"The jury just got an earful of your last witness crying," Gomez said. "I heard it. The jurors heard it. I don't think you want to create an issue. It unnecessarily messes up a trial."
Villegas immediately motioned for a mistrial.
"The court will consider it," Gomez said.
The court would entertain the motion at a later time, Gomez added.
Opening statements
During opening statements Monday morning, U.S. Assistant Attorney Everard Potter described how the crimes traumatized the victim.
In 2009, she was a "bright, happy innocent 8-year-old," Potter said.
"Akeem Gumbs raped her over and over and over," Potter said. "The first time, she was in the kitchen. He put a belt around her and he dragged her to the bedroom and he raped her."
Potter said the victim's brother, now 15, who also testified Monday, went into Gumbs' bedroom one day when Gumbs was gone.
The victim's brother testified that in Gumbs' bedroom he found a digital camera and two memory cards containing photos depicting sexual acts between Gumbs and the victim that disturbed him.
The victim's brother testified that he picked the bedroom door lock because he was feeling "nosy" and to get his MP3 player, when he found the camera and memory cards on a shelf in the closet.
He put the memory card in the camera and saw the photos, he testified.
He said he burned one of memory cards with a lighter he found on the roadside near the apartment.
"I was very disgusted of it and threw it in the bush," the victim's brother testified.
His sister had already relocked Gumbs' door, he said.
"I didn't get a chance to do anything with the second chip," he testified.
Villegas said the case is about hidden truths and argued that he will prove his client was elsewhere during the commission of the crimes.
"There are times when my client was either at work, at school or off-island," Villegas said.
He said his client was visiting an aunt in Florida during some of the attacks.
Gomez reminded the 14 jurors, eight of whom are women, that opening statements are not to be confused with evidence.
Other testimony
The prosecution's witnesses included Gumbs' mother, school counselors and Homeland Security special agent Louis Penn Jr., who investigated and arrested Gumbs.
Images of Gumbs' room showed a laptop on a desk in the corner, a television and an entertainment center.
Investigators retrieved a Dell laptop, a cell phone, two thumb drives, various discs and a VHS tape, Villegas said.
The trial is scheduled to continue in District Court today.
- Contact reporter Michael Todd at 714-9104 or email mtodd@dailynews.vi.
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