State v. Mr. R (DMC No. 16279) – Felony Child Molestation (Dangerous Crimes Against Children) – Not Charged – Phoenix Police Department investigated (DR No. 20XX-XXXXXXXXXX8).
Mr. R was accused of inappropriately touching his biological six-year-old daughter for a sexual purpose. Mr. R and his wife had been married for approximately nine years and had four children together. The alleged victim in this case was his oldest daughter. Prior to these allegations being made, the relationship between Mr. R and his wife had been strained. His wife had brought up the possibility of divorce on several occasions, specifically after Mr. R had found flirtatious text messages between his wife and a Doctor at the hospital where she worked. Mr. R had reason to believe that prior to the allegations being made, his wife had reached out to a Divorce Attorney in an effort to find out how much money she would receive in Spousal Maintenance and Child Support if they divorced. In fact, within days of his wife making the accusations against Mr. R regarding their biological daughter, she filed for Divorce.
The specific allegations of the Child Molestation came after Mr. R, who had been the primary caregiver of the children since their births, had notified his wife that their oldest daughter was inappropriately touching herself while lying in bed or watching television. Mr. R asked his wife to discuss the inappropriate behavior with the daughter, as she was the mother. After Mr. R discovered that his wife did not speak with their daughter about this, and their daughters continued inappropriate behavior around the other children continued, he had a stronger discussion with his wife regarding her need to speak with their daughter. It was after this that his wife claimed that Mr. R had been molesting their daughter.
Upon being retained, the Pre-Charge Team, met and discussed the allegations and the necessary steps moving forward. We immediately reached out to the Detective to advise him of our client’s denial of the allegations and notify him that we would be preparing detailed information for his review. We also drafted a Trebus Letter and sent it to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office notifying them of our representation. We immediately arranged for a Polygraph examination of our client and drafted the proposed Polygraph questions. These questions surrounded whether Mr. R ever had sexual contact with his oldest daughter or whether he had ever had his oldest daughter touch him for a sexual purpose. The results of this Polygraph showed that Mr. R was being truthful and there is no deception indicated. We also included in the Trebus/Bashir Letter a time-line describing the incident that occurred at the home, the financial motive for Mr. R’s wife to lie in order to place her in a better procedural posture for the Divorce, Mr. R’s passed Polygraph examination, and his outright denials of the allegations. This letter also specifically asked that if the case was submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review, that the prosecutor be a made aware of the letter, and that the exculpatory information should be read to the Grand Jury, if a presentation to the Grand Jury occurred.
Ultimately, none of Mr. R’s DNA was found in the vaginal area of his biological daughter, and based on the information presented in the Trebus/Bashir letter discrediting his wife, the case was “closed” by the Detective and never submitted to the Maricopa County Attorney’s Office for review and charging.