Aftermath (42 page)

Teresa had already questioned the doctor who'd examined Shane, making the determination that the child had been abused. Dr. Ahmed had delivered graphic testimony, saying that Shane had suffered excruciating tears he couldn't have caused himself. Dr. Ahmed had testified that the injuries described in Shane's medical report were consistent with being sodomized by an adult male, resulting in anal lacerations. He also noted that Shane later developed an abscess slightly smaller than a golf ball—consistent with being assaulted.

Today was Ms. Thomas's turn to deliver equally difficult testimony. She adjusted her glasses on her nose and watched as Teresa walked in her direction, smiling.

“Ms. Thomas, you have been monitoring the progress of little Shane Crowley throughout this entire ordeal, is that right?”

“Yes, I have.”

“And can you describe for the court how you found the child on the first day you visited with him?”

Referring to her notes, Ms. Thomas went back to the day in early January when she'd met Shane for the first time. “The child was in the custody of his father when I saw him for the first time. He was clean, well fed, and his surroundings were suitable, but he was clearly traumatized.”

“How so?”

“He was withdrawn. He clung to his toys more than what is typical for a child his age. He was sucking his thumb, which I learned later was not something he had been doing prior to that. And he was crying, more like whining, for his aunt.”

“Even while he was being cared for by his father, he was still asking for his aunt Camille?” Teresa toyed with the pencil in her hand as she asked the question.

“Yes,” Ms. Thomas confirmed.

“Is that normal behavior, or does it suggest perhaps that Shane wasn't very familiar or even very comfortable with his father?”

“It was my understanding that Shane didn't have a consistent relationship with his father prior to being placed in his custody. In fact, I came to understand that the child didn't have a consistent relationship with either parent.” Ms. Thomas felt sorry for the little boy handed around like a burden nobody wanted. “So, while he felt comforted to some extent by his father, he was still longing for the familiarity of the aunt he loves so much. Coupled with the abuse he suffered, the separation from his aunt was causing the child more distress.”

“I see,” Teresa said. “Did you express that to Shane's father?”

Ms. Thomas nodded. “I did. However, Mr. Crowley was unwilling to contact Mrs. Bingham to tell her that her nephew had been asking for her extensively.”

“And why did he refuse to call his sister-in-law?”

“Objection,” the DA interjected. “The witness can't be asked to explain someone else's decision.”

“She can if Mr. Crowley expressed his reasons to her, your honor.” Teresa prayed that the judge sided with her.

“Overruled.”

Teresa smiled. “Ms. Thomas, can you tell us why Louis Crowley refused to contact his sister-in-law to tell her that Shane was asking for her?”

Ms. Thomas shot a glance at Louis and saw him sneering at her. But she was under oath so he could give her dirty looks all day as far as she was concerned. “He said that he blamed Mrs. Bingham just as much as he blamed his ex-wife. He faulted that entire side of the family for what happened to Shane, and he said that he didn't trust any of them around his son.”

“And what was your reaction to that?”

“Well,” Ms. Thomas began, talking with her hands for emphasis, “I asked him if he felt that one of them had personally abused the child. He said that he didn't believe so, but that since it happened under their watch, they were all responsible. I told Mr. Crowley that the child's best interests were the important factor, and that all visitation with him would be strictly supervised. I told him that it would be beneficial to Shane if he were able to see his aunt at least once in order to establish some sense of normalcy in his new surroundings. But he refused, at least at first.”

“And when did that change?”

“When the court ruled that the child's mother could have supervised visitation with him, we agreed that it would be best to conduct those visits at the maternal grandmother's house as opposed to Mr. Crowley's residence.”

Teresa frowned. “Any particular reason for that?”

“Well, for one thing, the maternal grandmother's home was familiar and safe. It was a place where he could visit with his mother, grandmother, and his aunt at the same time. And that proved to be very beneficial for the child.” She glanced at Louis again. “But another factor in our eventually arranging to conduct the visits at the maternal grandmother's home was Mr. Crowley's contention that he needed some ‘alone time' with his girlfriend.” Ms. Thomas used air quotes as she said “alone time,” indicating that those were Louis's exact words.

The courtroom buzzed with conversation as she said it. Teresa pounced on the opportunity to turn the tide in their favor.

“So, Mr. Crowley admitted to you that wanting alone time with his girlfriend was a factor in allowing the visits with Shane's mom to take place elsewhere?”

“Yes.”

The judge had to bang his gavel to get the courtroom back under control. Louis looked like he wished he could dig a hole and crawl inside. All eyes were on him.

“So is it fair to suggest that he was more concerned with his girlfriend's happiness than his son's safety at that point?”

“Objection!”

“Sustained.”

Teresa moved on. She'd made her point. “And what did you observe during Shane's visits with his mother and her family?”

“At first, he was unwilling to interact with his mother at all. He ran from her. I observed that Misa seemed equally reluctant to initiate conversation with the child. When I arrived at the grandmother's house with Shane, Misa was a little standoffish, perhaps waiting for her son to come to her. But he wasn't willing to do that.”

“Did that initial visit end without the two of them interacting?”

Ms. Thomas smiled a little as she recalled that day. She shook her head. “No,” she said. “I urged Misa to coax Shane out of his seclusion. Eventually she found a very effective way to get Shane to come around. She pulled out toys of his and told a story about each one. In the end, Shane was hanging on to her for dear life and I almost hated to end the visit.”

Teresa was pleased to hear that. “And in subsequent visits, how has Shane responded to his maternal family?”

“He has bonded with his mother, often crying when it's time for us to leave. He also exhibits pure excitement whenever he sees his aunt Camille.” Ms. Thomas looked at her notes. “Although, lately, with his aunt's pregnancy becoming more and more obvious, he is exhibiting some jealous behavior toward her, which is typical of a child whose mother is expecting.”

Teresa seemed confused. “But Camille is not Shane's mother.”

Ms. Thomas nodded. “Yes, I know. However, our investigation has concluded that Mrs. Bingham cared for the child perhaps just as often as his mother did. And in a situation like that, it is natural for the child to feel some apprehension at the prospect of a new baby taking their place or pushing them out of the picture.”

“And aside from that, Shane has been excited and happy to see his mother and her family?”

“Yes, he has.”

Teresa nodded. “With regard to the sexual abuse, what has Shane told you?”

Ms. Thomas clasped her hands together. “Well, with a child Shane's age it is often difficult to get them to explain in words what was done to them. So we use dolls to have the child demonstrate what happened and that is what we did with Shane.”

Teresa held up two dolls in front of the witness stand. “These are the dolls you used with Shane, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“Can you please demonstrate what Shane showed you?”

Ms. Thomas took the dolls from Teresa and positioned them so that one was facedown with its pants down around its knees and the other was straddling it. She spoke into the microphone, narrating for the court what Shane had described.

“At first, the child was unwilling to do more than position the dolls in a manner such as this. He wouldn't talk about what happened, but would only show us what had taken place. We asked him to point to which of the dolls was ‘Shane' and he pointed to the doll on the bottom. We asked him to point to where Shane had been hurt and he pointed to the doll's buttocks area. We also showed him a dollhouse and asked him to point to where in the house he was victimized. He pointed to the couch and to the living room floor.”

Many of the jurors were moved to tears by what Ms. Thomas described and the judge interrupted and asked if they needed to take a break. The jurors declined taking a recess and Judge Felder told Teresa to continue with her questioning.

“And so far Shane has not talked about what happened to him, is that right?”

“Well,” Ms. Thomas said, “that was the case until our last session with Shane yesterday.”

Some jurors leaned forward in their seats, while many in the courtroom began to talk among themselves, all of them eager to hear what Shane had finally said about his abuser. Misa almost jumped out of her seat and Louis's mouth hung open in shock.

Teresa seemed caught off guard, as well. “Shane spoke about it for the first time yesterday?”

“Yes,” Ms. Thomas said. “He was very quiet as he spoke about it, his voice was barely audible. But he did tell us that he still sees the bad man in his dreams at night. We assured him that the bad man was not going to hurt him anymore, but it was clear that the very thought of his molester tormented him. He told us that he did not want to play hide-and-seek anymore.”

Misa's heart stopped for a moment as she recalled Steven telling her how he liked to play the game with Shane. She sat transfixed as Ms. Thomas continued.

“We asked Shane if the bad man had hurt him while they were playing hide-and-seek and he nodded. He whispered, ‘When I hide, I be quiet. But he still find me.' I asked Shane who finds him. And he told me that it was ‘Unca Steben.' And we understood that to mean Uncle Steven.”

The courtroom was filled with gasps and so much of an uproar that the judge was banging his gavel and yelling for the court to come to order. Misa turned and locked eyes with her sister and mother, tears streaming down her face, and saw that they were crying, too. Emotions surged through them—anger about what had been done to poor Shane and relief that Misa hadn't killed the wrong man after all.

Mary Bingham ran from the courtroom, having heard the evidence that her son was guilty of molesting Shane. There was no doubt in her mind as she fled the room that Steven had victimized the little boy in the same manner in which his father had preyed upon him. Frankie ran out after his mother, his own emotions running wild. Behind him, he heard Teresa announce that she had no further questions, heard the judge calling for a five-minute recess with the commotion continuing in the courtroom.

Frankie followed his mother out into the vestibule and down a flight of stairs leading to the restrooms. He called out after her and finally caught up to her, grabbing her by the arm and pulling her to his chest in a firm embrace. Clinging to her son, Mary cried so hard that her body quaked in agony. Frankie felt his heart breaking, and he was powerless to stop it.

“Ma…” His voice trailed off as the words escaped him. He didn't know what to say to her.

He noticed cameras flashing as reporters perched nearby, snapping pictures of the two of them as if they were part of a freak show. Frankie pulled his mother into the nearby men's room and locked the door behind them.

“Stop crying,” he said, thinking instantly that he was asking his mother to do the impossible. He hated to see her cry. It brought him right back to the old days whenever he saw her in tears. “We gotta get you out of here.”

He thought about weighing the enormity of the situation—that Shane had named his brother, that his mother was racked with guilt. But right now, if he took the time to digest what was happening, it might swallow him whole.

“I'm gonna have Tremaine take you home,” he said. He was determined to stay in court and hear the outcome of the day's events. “Wait right here. Keep the door locked until I come back.”

Frankie reached for the doorknob, but his mother stopped him, placing her hand over his. “I won't be quiet this time. You have to accept that he did it, Frankie. And she's that child's mother. Should she go to jail for the rest of her life for protecting her son?” Mary's voice shook. “I wish I would have protected you that way. And Steven.”

Frankie stared at her. He was at a loss for words. Finally, Mary let go of his hand and he quickly exited, heading back into the courtroom to get Tremaine. His feet felt heavy as he walked amid the stares and chatter in the courthouse. Frankie's mind was reeling. Steven couldn't have been that twisted without him knowing it. Shane wouldn't lie about it, would he? Had Misa been justified? Could Mary handle the truth? Could he?

These things and more raced through his mind as he stepped back inside the courtroom. Aware that all eyes were on him, he walked over to Tremaine and whispered to him. Tremaine nodded and hurriedly left the courtroom in search of Frankie's mom, with instructions to bring her home and stay with her.

Gillian looked different when Frankie sat beside her again. He could tell that she was having doubts about his brother's innocence. He couldn't help wondering if she was second-guessing him as well. Her back was stiff, her hands folded in her lap, legs crossed. Her eyes searched his for something Frankie hoped she found. And then she looked away, no reassuring words, no touch of comfort. Frankie noticed this as the court officer called them all back to order.

Everyone listened as Ms. Thomas was cross-examined by the prosecution.