IOWA - In 90 minutes of testimony Wednesday, Jerome Hunt said he could not explain why former Parker High School wrestling teammates would accuse him of sexual assault.
Six boys have testified that Hunt at least tried to insert his fingers through their clothes and into their rectums before practice or on the team bus during the 2005-06 season. Two other boys said they watched Hunt do it, sometimes as another bigger, older teammate held the victims down.
Three of the older athletes said earlier in the trial that if Hunt did what was alleged, they never saw it. They also said the accusers didn't complain during the season and remained friendly with their teammates.
Six more wrestlers said the same Wednesday as Hunt's lawyer, Mike Butler, called them to the witness stand.
Much of the testimony has concerned a wrestling move called "skinning" or a "butt drag," which Parker assistant wrestling coach Dominick LaRocca taught during the 2005-06 season.
Descriptions of the move have varied, and the most intimate came Wednesday from Hunt. He said he moves his opponents by "burying your hand in the crack" and using his fingers to dig under the end of the wrestler's tail bone.
The state's witnesses have given detailed descriptions of Hunt using the move before practices, though their accounts often conflicted.
Hunt acknowledged he's probably used the move on most of his teammates but said he couldn't speak to specific occasions because he thinks of skinning as just another wrestling move.
He did say he knows opponents don't enjoy the move but said he never intentionally harmed his teammates or tried to insert his finger into their rectums.
"I've never had the intent of sticking my finger inside of anybody," Hunt said.
The defense rested its case after Hunt testified.
Judge Steven Jensen, who is ruling on the case in Turner County juvenile court, said he would issue a decision on the case sometime this week, either in writing or during a telephone conference with the lawyers.
After prosecutors dismissed several charges, Hunt now faces four counts of second-degree rape and seven counts of attempted rape.
The first wrestler to testify in the four-day trial lodged the most serious accusations - that Hunt touched him inappropriately about 20 times, including some rectal penetration.
Butler challenged that accuser's credibility throughout the trial. On Wednesday, testimony indicated that that accuser tried several times to insert his own finger into a teammate's rectum during a confirmation ceremony at St. Joseph's Cathedral in Sioux Falls.
The boy making that claim also was a Parker wrestler during the 2005-06 season and said he thought Hunt did nothing wrong.
After hearing that testimony, the judge ruled it inadmissible because it lacked relevance to the case.
Butler disagreed, saying the judge needs to put Hunt's actions in context.
"In assessing the conduct overall, the court should be aware of the kids' conduct toward each other," he said.
from The Argus Leader
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