Arizona republican., 1915-04-22
Seventeen-Year-Old Orphan Tells of Alleged Acts of Suspended Chief of Pc lice in the Temptation Room"
FREQUENT VISITS
 TO BOOMING HOUSE
Chief Witness Against Los Angeles Official First to Testify in What Prom ises to Be Sensational Trial
ASSOCIATED PRESS DISPATCH ]

LOS ANGELES. April 2I-With a jury of middle-aged men. and old men impanelled after two days ex- animation. Chas. Sebastian. the sus- pended chief of police. went on trial in the superior court with Mrs Lillie I'ratt on an indictment charging them jointly with having contribut- ed 10 the dependency of Edith Ser kin. Mrs. Pratt's half sister and ward
 The Serkin g1rl, a 17-year-old or phan, theceupon took the stand, and testified as to scenes and acts she alleged she witnessed and endure ir tie so-called temptation room" in the lodging house next to police headquarters. She swore she was taken there numerous times in the past eighteen months by Mrs Pratt. that she was kissed, hugged and fondled by Sebastian and subjected to other acts calculated to overthrow her morality. Her memory was at first hazy as to the time and the court upon objection of the defense ruled that the prosecution must con fine the examination to specific dates in accordance with the indictment The district attorney then obtaine a recess in crcer to confer with the deputies and elected to stand upon the main charge that the acts were committed about December 20 last
 This ruling and the subsequent de- cision of the prosecution elated the defense whose counsel said they ex- Pected to establish an alibi and show that Sebastian could not have been
 
 cember 20 or December 24. the two days to which the courts ruling evil dently limited the prosecution. At torneys for Sebastian and Mrs. Pratt further attacked the prosecution just before the court adjourned until to- morrow morning by demanding that the court remove the Serkin girl who ] has not yet finished her testimony, ! from the custody of the district at tcrney This was refused but the | court ordered the district attorney to ! har Mrs. Martha Oliveras, another half sister of Edith Serkin. from see ing the girl during the remainder of the trial Mrs. Oliveras is regarded 1 by Mrs. Pratt as her bitterest enemy l
 Edith Serkin. a plump. black eyed ! girl of good size. removed a heavy veil as she took the stand. She said SDe ITSI met three years ago in the company of Mrs. Pratt i She said that since then she visited ! the rooming house sometimes as of i ten twice a week. In reply to the | question as to why twice a week, the ! girl replied because Mir. Pratt was | away from home that often She 1 said she last visited the room on ] Christmas eve. but stated that moth | ing happened that night" She said | her visit prior to that was about a | week earlier Tell the jury what | happened then" said the district at | torney. He put his arms around | me. and kissed me, and loved me, | too What do you mean by me, | too2'" He made love to her (Mrs. 1 PratD as well as to me. We re- i clined all three of us.' How long l, did you remain that way?" Some times hour or more.'' What | else do you remember" He pinch | ed me so I was sore for sometime after"
 After lengthy questioning about | various acts alleged to have occurred i in the temptation room" the dis trict attorney asked the witness if she ever received any gifts of money or property from Sebastian. The de- fense objected at first, on the grounds that this could have no bearing on the case.
 Do you want me to state what l expect to prove which has a bearing
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