Wednesday, May 16, 2001
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Wednesday, May 16, 2001 |
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DA: Parents molested son, 12, daughter, 7 By JOHN MUNFORD
Two Fayette County parents are standing trial this week on charges they physically molested their two children and failed to notify police after a family member molested their 7-year-old daughter. Candace Marie Wheeler and Mark Anthony (Tony) Wheeler had a videotape of her ex-husband, Bill Whistler, molesting the girl but they failed to notify authorities, assistant District Attorney Jim Hardin said in court Monday. An attorney for Mrs. Wheeler said Tony Wheeler turned the tape over to authorities as soon as he discovered it. The jury began hearing testimony in the case Tuesday morning. The Wheelers also endangered the children by allowing Mrs. Wheeler's brother, a convicted child molester, to live with them in 1998, Hardin said in his opening statement Monday afternoon. The Wheelers physically molested their 12-year-old son and 7-year-old daughter on several occasions, Hardin alleged. That includes by physical contact and by forcing them to watch pornographic videos, Hardin said. The girl told a local doctor that her parents knew Whistler molested her, but they still forced her to visit him at his residence in Florida. Whistler is currently serving a jail sentence for molesting the Wheelers' daughter, Hardin said. "Ladies and gentlemen, these are horrendous charges," Hardin told the jury. "The evidence will show that everywhere you looked, there were problems." The two children were eventually taken away from their parents for their protection, Hardin said. The girl is living in a foster home and the boy is in a facility to treat sex offenders, Hardin said. Scott Ballard, the attorney representing Candace Wheeler, said his client vehemently denies molesting the children. He also added that the Wheelers didn't know Whistler was molesting their daughter "until late in the game." Joe Saia, the attorney representing Tony Wheeler, declined to make an opening statement, reserving his right to do so later in the trial. Tony Wheeler is charged with incest, child molestation, rape, sexual exploitation of a minor, distributing obscene material and two counts of aggravated child molestation. Candace Wheeler is charged with incest, statutory rape, distributing obscene materials, sexual exploitation of a minor, contribution to the deprivation of a minor, three counts of aggravated child molestation and two counts of child molestation. Investigation of the alleged incidents began in July 1998 when law enforcement officials learned Mrs. Wheeler's brother, the convicted child molester, was living in the Wheelers' home at Marnelle Mobile Home Park. Officials would later learn that Whistler, a trucker, would often drop in on the Wheelers and stay overnight at their residence, Hardin said. During a search of the Wheelers' trailer, authorities were approached by a neighbor who turned over a bag full of pornographic tapes which she said the Wheelers had given her to hide for them, the prosecutor added.
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