Defendant twice took indecent liberties while all three girls were present. The trial court erred in joining the cases for trial. Even though the offenses were improperly joined, defendant has not articulated any resulting prejudice in his appellate brief, nor do we perceive any. The trial court's error in joining the offenses for trial was harmless. This assignment of error is overruled.
Defendant next contends the trial court erred in admitting the testimony of a fourth sister.
This witness, older than the victims named in the indictments, was twenty-seven years old at the time of trial. This evidence demonstrated that defendant gained access to these young girls by exploiting his relationship with their mother and is consistent with other evidence previously presented through the three victims named in the indictments. N.C. Gen. Stat. Evidence of defendant's molestation of a fourth sister undoubtedly had probative value to show the existence of intent, plan or design, to corroborate the types of sexual abuse established by the testimony of the other three victims, and to confirm defendant's characteristic abuse of the children of the woman who was his friend and who later became his girlfriend. In light of the direct evidence presented by the three victims and the investigator, any unfair prejudice caused by evidence of a fourth victim was minimal.