KANAWHA COUNTY, W.Va. (WSAZ) -- A Kanawha County man is behind bars accused of sexually assaulting a nine-year-old girl.
Justin Hamrick was arrested Friday after he admitted to sexually assaulting the girl in her own bed. "Our victim who was nine-years-old at the time reported to us, as recently as two weeks ago that she was sexually touched by a live-in person, who was a family friend at the time," Lt. Sean Crosier with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department said.
Pine Valley Trailer Park is where the incident supposedly happened nearly a year ago.
"We didn't know exactly why the deputies picked him up. We saw them up there right at the entrance," Park Manager Jim Conner said.
Neighbors say Hamrick has lived at the trailer park for a couple of years, moving from one trailer to the next.
Hamrick admitted, during one of those stays, he went into a little girl's bedroom, put a blanket over her head, removed her pants and performed sexual acts on her. When the girl started to wake up Hamrick left the room.
"I never dreamed the poor boy would do it. It really is sick, but I never dreamed of him doing something like that," Neighbor Matthew Rhodes said.
It's an incident that's left community members with a lot of questions and a lack of trust.
"He never concerned me because he was never any trouble," Conner said.
"After hearing this I don't even know if it's safe for a kid to come out anymore," Rhodes said.
Officials with the Kanawha County Sheriff’s Department say it didn't take Hamrick long to confess. Hamrick was given several lie detector tests, and then admitted to the crime in less than a minute.
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