A teenage girl who shared a bed with her former stepfather testified in court Tuesday that he put his hands between her thighs and brushed her private parts.
Grady Gray, 44, is on trial for felony indecency with a child by touch. The jury before 128th State District Judge Courtney Arkeen heard testimony from the girl and her mother.
At issue is whether the touch was accidental or intentional.
The girl testified that Gray and her mother had separated but she was living with Gray in November 2015. Her mother had taken her bed and taken it to another place. The girl had to sleep on a couch or with Gray. She said she sometimes slept with her mother and Gray while they were together.
One night when she went into the bed he was asleep but not snoring. A while later she woke up and he was rubbing her legs. His hands went between her thighs and to her privates.
She said she went to school that morning and after texting her boyfriend, he told her she needed to tell her mother. Her mother picked her up from school and took her to the West Orange Police Department.
Assistant District Attorney Phillip Smith used text messages from the girl’s cell phone as part of the evidence. The messages included Gray in the evening before the alleged touch encouraging her to take her Benadryl.
She testified she sometimes took Benadryl for allergies and it helped her sleep.
Gray’s defense is that he had taken sleeping pills because he didn’t think she was coming into the bed that night. He says if any improper touching was made, it was accidental.
The mother testified the girl considered Gray as her father but after that night she was scared of him.
Gray faces five to 20 years in prison if convicted.
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