7-year-old girl gives testimony in sex abuse case

Sitting in a county courtroom, her light-brown hair barely visible over the stuffed gray bunny in her hand, the 7-year-old girl didn't want to say what the man had done.

She started to explain how 62-year-old Michael Phillip Hein Sr. kissed her last March in Glen Burnie - only to stop and put the stuffed animal to the microphone in front of her. She wanted the bunny to tell the rest.

"He did it like seven times," the second-grader eventually told the jury as a prosecutor kneeled next to her.

The testimony - unusual in the fact that it came from a child so young - came yesterday during the trial of Mr. Hein, a friend of the girl's former baby sitter.

Mr. Hein, a former employee of Associated Cab in Glen Burnie who once was certified to drive children to county schools, is charged with two counts of sex abuse of a minor and several lesser crimes. If convicted of either top charge, he faces up to 25 years in prison.

Assistant Public Defender Denis O'Connell, Mr. Hein's attorney, told the jury his client is not guilty.

But when it came time to cross examine the young girl, he did not pounce on her disjointed and often halting answers. He simply clarified that she testified Mr. Hein never touched her under her clothes. Mr. O'Connell then let the girl leave the stand and join her mother outside the courtroom.

Deputy State's Attorney Laura Keissling and Mr. O'Connell declined to comment about the difficulties in questioning a child so young.

Frank Gray, a prominent Glen Burnie attorney and former prosecutor, said it's hard to do without looking like an "ogre."

"It's a very, very treacherous task that no one looks forward to doing," he said, noting how children usually are very good or very bad witnesses - but rarely in the middle.

Catherine Hereford, director of development for The National Children's Advocacy Center, said prosecutors try to avoid putting young children on the stand.

"It can be a very traumatic experience... but sometimes it is necessary," she said.

Ms. Hereford said the center recommends children participate in mock courtroom activities so they better understand what will happen the day of trial. She said it can be difficult even for adults to talk about sex crimes in front of strangers and their alleged attacker.

Mr. Gray, who left the county's State's Attorney's Office in 2000, said prosecutors regularly encourage children to bring stuffed animals and toys to the stand.

"Anything you can do to make the child more comfortable, you do it," he said.

The questioning yesterday proved difficult for the attorneys and the girl - who needed a 10-minute break from the courtroom before she could finish.

Down on her knees to be at the same level as the girl, Mrs. Keissling asked dozens of detailed questions - about where and how exactly Mr. Hein touched her last year. Over the objections of Mr. Connell, she would regularly provide the girl with some possible answers in an effort to solicit a response.

Despite the often leading questions, however, the girl repeatedly said she did not remember a key part of the state's case against Mr. Hein. Police arrested Mr. Hein on March 1 after witnesses said he sexually abused the girl in the back seat of a truck outside Marley Station mall. The girl told police at the time that Mr. Hein kissed her and touched her and Mr. Hein eventually confessed, police and prosecutors said.

Yesterday, however, the child said she did not remember the trip to the mall or talking to police. Instead, she spoke about several other incidents where Mr. Hein kissed and touched her at the home of her baby sitter.

Bob Mosier, a county school spokesman, said in March that Mr. Hein no longer was a certified driver with the schools and hadn't transported students for the system since 2002. He did not know of any problems involving Mr. Hein or Associated Cab, which is still under contract to the school system. Mr. Mosier said the company usually drives students who are homeless or live in isolated areas.

No charges have been filed against Mr. Hein in connection with his work with the schools, according to court records.

The trial is scheduled to continue today.