Daughter testifies in father's abuse trial

The 62-year-old man's attorney says the case is full of inconsistencies.

By MOLLY MOORHEAD
Published June 22, 2007

DADE CITY - All three victims were young girls living with Robert Douglas Aswell when they say the abuse happened.

One is his daughter. One is his step-granddaughter. The third woman doesn't know the other two, but she said Aswell abused her as a teenager too.

Aswell, 62, of 3225 Canal Place in Land O'Lakes, faces charges of capital sexual battery and lewd and lascivious molestation. His trial began Thursday.

The first witness to testify was Aswell's daughter, now 18 and a recent high school graduate. She said the abuse began when she was 7, during summer visits with her father after her parents divorced, before she understood what was happening. It ended when she was 14.

"I told him this is not right and it has to stop, " she testified.

But she never told authorities or any family members about the sexual abuse until a second victim came forward - Aswell's step-granddaughter who was also 7 at the time of the alleged abuse.

Defense attorney Scott Davis said the case against Aswell, which he called the "biggest nightmare that a grandfather or father can possibly imagine, " is fraught with such inconsistencies. There were delays in the investigation, changing stories from the victims as well as irrational behavior.

Aswell's daughter, for instance, asked to live with her father after all the years of abuse, Davis said.

"It's not reasonable for somebody who claims to have been molested, " Davis said.

The trial continues today before Circuit Judge Pat Siracusa.

[Last modified June 21, 2007, 21:41:02]