Steve Louis DeLong appeals his convictions for one count of child molestation,1 two counts of violating Georgia’s Controlled Substances Act by distributing a Schedule IV drug,2 and two counts of influencing witnesses,3 contending that the evidence was insufficient to sustain his convictions and, alternatively, that his convictions must be reversed in light of testimony regarding the invocation of his right to remain silent. For the reasons noted infra , we conclude that the evidence was sufficient as to DeLong’s conviction for child molestation, but insufficient as to his convictions for violating Georgia’s Controlled Substances Act and influencing witnesses. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,4 the record shows that in September 2005, DeLong and his then-wife, Michelle Hudson, hosted a gathering at their home, which was attended by Hudson’s brother, DeLong’s sister, and DeLong’s young niece, T. C.5 At some point in the evening, Hudson went to check on T. C. and the couple’s own daughter, the two of whom had previously been put to sleep in the same bed. But upon entering the room, Hudson immediately noticed that T. C. was no longer in bed with her daughter. Instead, DeLong had moved T. C. to the bed he shared with Hudson, claiming to have done so after the child wet the other bed. When Hudson was unable to rouse T. C., DeLong explained that he “might have gave her sic an Ambien.”
At trial, Hudson testified that she was immediately suspicious of the situation and that her concern was heightened due to an incident that occurred only a few months earlier when she discovered DeLong in bed with T. C. and their daughter, all three asleep. On that occasion, Hudson looked beneath the bed sheets and noticed that both T. C. and DeLong’s underwear was pulled down and what appeared to be fecal matter on the side of T. C.’s buttocks and on the sheets. When Hudson woke DeLong to question him, T. C. slept through the commotion, and DeLong claimed that he could not remember how he had come to be in such a position. Thus, with this earlier incident in mind, Hudson approached T. C.’s mother DeLong’s sister at the party after having discovered T. C. in DeLong’s bed.
