Opinion ID: 2631632
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 4

Heading: The victim's and Tracy's version of events

Text: The victim testified that Abbott entered her room, sat down on her bed, and touched her vagina with his fingers. Abbott then got up briefly and went to the victim's bedroom door to see if Tracy was awake. Abbott returned to the victim's bed, lay down next to her, and touched her vagina again. The victim ran into Tracy's room, woke her up, and told her that Abbott was touching her privates. Tracy confronted Abbott, in front of the victim, about the victim's allegations. Abbott denied the allegations, cried, and repeatedly said that they were not true and that he did not touch the victim. Tracy told Abbott that he had to leave the house and the victim said, No mommy, I don't want him to go. I just want him to stop. Abbott left, and Tracy telephoned her exhusband David, who came to the house. A few days after the incident, Tracy and David took the victim to meet with a detective from the Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department's (LVMPD) sexual abuse detail, William Ettinger. The victim was also given a physical examination. Detective Ettinger testified at trial at some length about his education and training in the field of sexual crimes against children. He stated that when he interviewed the victim, he used various techniques he had learned during trainings on how to interview child victims in sex assault cases. He testified that the techniques he used demonstrated that the victim knew the difference between a truth and lie, that she promised not to lie, and that he found no evidence that the allegations were either coached or fabricated. The physical examination was normal and revealed no evidence of sexual assault. The State then charged Abbott with two counts of lewdness with a minor under the age of fourteen. [6]