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February 25, 2005
Velcoff rape trial enters second day
Five witnesses testified Wednesday in the case against Jacquelyn Velcoff, 46, of Arkadelphia, who is charged with 20 counts of rape in connection with the alleged sexual abuse of her children.
During opening statements, Prosecuting Attorney Henry Morgan told the jurors that Velcoff's daughter had been abused for several years by Velcoff's companion, Wayne Poland.
Poland, 62, is charged with 40 counts of rape and 20 counts of possession of child pornography in connection with the case. Both were charged in October 2003.
He was to go on trial last November on the charges, but failed to appear. First Arkansas Bail Bonds, which guaranteed his $700,000 bond, is searching for Poland. The company also guaranteed Velcoff's bond of $150,000.
In his opening statement, Morgan told jurors that the case came to light when Velcoff's daughter, then 14, told a school counselor and school resource officer about the abuse. The counselor and officer testified in court on Wednesday.
William Bell, a counselor at Goza Middle School, told jurors that the 14-year-old told him that she had been sexually assaulted many times by her "mother's boyfriend."
Bell testified that he asked the student if she would be willing to talk with Officer Steve Escalante, Goza's school resource officer. The student agreed, and Bell told the student to return to class so he could set up a meeting with Escalante.
While he waited for Escalante to return to campus, Bell said that he called the Child Abuse hotline of the Arkansas Department of Human Services, as required by law. The caseworker told him to report the matter to the police immediately.
After Escalante arrived, the student told the officer what she had told Bell and elaborated.
Escalante testified that he called the police department and spoke with Sgt. Roy Bethell, an investigator.
Bethell testified that he called Investigator Wes Sossamon of the Clark County Sheriff's Office to assist him, based on information given to him by Escalante.
Bethell and Sossamon interviewed the 14-year-old, and based on what she told them, obtained a search warrant for Poland's home.
Sossamon testified that the officers found several items in the home consistent with the alleged victim's statement, including a Polaroid camera, a video camera, and computer files.
Officers also found that a call had been made from Velcoff's residence to Poland's at 4:34 p.m. that day, according to a caller identification device on Poland's telephone.
The search warrant was not served until 7:30 p.m., Sossamon testified.
Investigator Tim Patterson, also of the sheriff's office, examined two computers that were seized from Poland's home. Using a special investigative program, Patterson was able to retrieve several files that had recently been erased from Poland's desktop computer.
Among the files were pornographic images, including still photographs and movies. Several of those were shown to the jury. Some of the images and movies depicted young boys and girls who appeared to be under 18.
The computer also contained images of Velcoff's two children. The only image of the boy showed him and Poland, both fully clothed, attempting to create an image using the computer's Web cam and microphone. There were three images of the girl, one fully clothed and two showing her wearing only thong panties.
Also among the information retrieved from the erased files on the computer were Internet searches seeking a criminal defense attorney specializing in sexual offenses. According to the program used to retrieve the information, the search was done at 5:17 p.m. the day the search warrant was served, Patterson said.
Patterson also retrieved computer files that contained Poland's resume, billing information for clients and letters which Poland signed "M.D." behind his name.
When asked by Morgan what that meant, Patterson replied "He (Poland) represented himself as a doctor."
Poland was a registered nurse anesthetist, and worked at Baptist Health Medical Center-Arkadelphia at the time of his arrest.
Sossamon testified that officers contacted Poland at the hospital to ask him to let them into the house to search it.
In his cross examination of the officers, Velcoff's attorney, Darrell F. Brown of Little Rock, asked each of them if any of the evidence gathered at Poland's house was connected to Velcoff .
They said that they found no direct evidence linking Velcoff to Poland's residence or to files on Poland's computer, just her two children.
Bethell and Sossamon testified that in their interviews, both children spoke of being "forced" to go to Poland's home by their mother.
The girl told police that her mother would receive money from Poland in exchange for her having sex with Poland. The girl told Sossamon that she had been given money by Poland to give to her mother, and that "they needed the money."
When asked what would happen if she refused to submit to Poland, Bethell and Sossamon said the girl told them that her mother would "hold her down so he could do it."
Testimony will continue today with additional witnesses for the prosecution, including the two children.
If convicted, Velcoff could receive a sentence of 10 to 40 years or life in prison on each of the 20 charges.
Posted by Nealus at February 25, 2005 11:44 AM
