Opinion ID: 1774407
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Similarity of acts

Text: Second, Mr. Hernandez argues that the abuse of the victim in this case and the witness's allegations of abuse are not sufficiently similar to be probative because the victim testified that the abuse involved digital penetration and intercourse whereas the witness only testified that Mr. Hernandez touched her privacy. To the contrary, the pedophile exception seems especially applicable in view of the evidence that Mr. Hernandez was attracted to the physical characteristics of young girls and the evidence that Mr. Hernandez attempted to offer both the victim and the witness gifts in exchange for sexual favors. Additionally, the victim testified that Mr. Hernandez began abusing her when she was six years old, and the witness testified that she was abused by Mr. Hernandez when she was the same age. See Fry v. State, 309 Ark. 316, 829 S.W.2d 415 (1992) (affirming the Trial Court's decision to admit a witness's testimony of sexual abuse to show a pattern of behavior by the appellant and noting that the abuse began when both the two victims and the witness were approximately nine years old and progressed from fondling to intercourse). The abuse of the victim and the allegations of the witness are sufficiently similar to show Mr. Hernandez's proclivity toward sexual abuse of young girls.