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Bellevue Police Sgt. Andy Jashinske testified this week that even before the case began, the family’s name was well-known at the department because of an ongoing dispute members had with neighbors.
The woman’s father- and mother-in-law testified that their son and daughter-in-law regularly created drama. According to the mother-in-law, it was never clear if they were high on drugs or pointing the finger at one another.
Now they are pointing the finger at each other at trial.
The woman’s husband, who has pleaded no contest to three charges relating to sexually assaulting their son, testified against his wife. He said he saw her sexually assault their son on more than one occasion, but never told authorities.
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Although prosecutors argue that she willingly assaulted her son, the defense says she was forced to do it by her husband and that she herself was also a victim. The jury trial is expected to continue today and into next week.
According to Bellevue police, officers were called to the house 36 times for complaints such as a verbal disturbance, child abuse and loud music. The complaints were made between November 2009 and the couple’s arrest last year.
Jashinske, who works in the unit that investigates crimes against children, said officers had gone to the house so frequently that it was “enough for me to hear about it.”
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Prosecutors say the assaults started when the boy was 4 years old.
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The first time, according to the husband, he saw inappropriate touching. The husband said his wife told him that they were “just playing” and that it was a big joke that had progressed.
The husband said he suggested his wife talk to somebody about it. He said she blamed her Xanax and Ambien use and “begged for forgiveness.”
Months later, he said, he saw his wife sexually assaulting their son after his bath. The husband said he asked her if he could take a video “for later viewing” and she gave her permission. She later deleted the recording, he said.
When asked why he didn’t stop his wife during the act and instead recorded it, he testified that his wife kept threatening to turn him in to police and he wanted evidence that she was the perpetrator.
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Authorities started investigating in late 2012 after the woman told her in-laws that she and her husband sexually assaulted the boy. The in-laws went to law enforcement, though the boy’s mother later recanted, saying she made it up because she was mad at her husband.
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At the trial, the father-in-law said his grandson was violent. He said the boy drew pictures of blood, and faces with frowns, not smiles, and showed sexual behavior no child should.
The husband testified that he initially denied seeing his wife sexually assault their son because he “was trying to protect my wife and myself.”
“I was trying to keep my family intact,” he said.
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Prosecutors at one point played an audio recording of an argument between the husband and the wife. In court, he glared at his wife. She sat at the defense table, crying.
In the recording, the woman screams at her husband to “take the (expletive) kid” and “get out.”
The child asks: “Why doesn’t mommy love me anymore?”
The husband responds: “She does.”
The wife shouts back: “I don’t love anybody” and “I hope you all (expletive) die.”
In a recorded call at the Sarpy County Jail and a letter, the husband and wife said they believed someone coached their son to allege the abuse.
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“Either way,” the woman wrote in a letter to her husband, “I’m (expletive) and so are you.”