This case arises out of allegations that Paul Eric Towry fondled the genital area of J. L., his six-year-old granddaughter, during a weekend campout at his home. The jury found Towry guilty of child molestation, and the trial court denied his amended motion for new trial. On appeal, Towry contends that his trial counsel was ineffective by failing to object to testimony of a child therapist that allegedly bolstered the credibility of J. L. and went to the ultimate issue in the case; by failing to request that the video recording of his police interview be redacted to exclude certain allegedly prejudicial comments made by the interviewing investigator; by failing to object to testimony by the investigator that allegedly bolstered the credibility of the similar transaction witnesses; by failing to object when the prosecutor asked certain defense witnesses to comment on the veracity of other witnesses; by failing to prepare and present testimony from an expert in child interviewing techniques; and by failing to request jury charges on the defenses of accident and mistake of fact. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm. Following a criminal conviction, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict, and the defendant is no longer presumed innocent. Johnson v. State , 289 Ga. App. 206 656 SE2d 861 2008. So viewed, the evidence showed that Towry and his wife are the parents of two adult daughters, Jennifer and Sonja. According to both daughters, Towry repeatedly molested them in their pre-teen and early teenage years by fondling their private parts while their mother was absent from the residence working night shift. In the years that followed the molestation, Jennifer and Sonya moved out of their parents’ home and had their own children. Jennifer had two children: a son, M. L., and a younger daughter, J. L., the victim in this case.
On Saturday, August 9, 2003, M. L. and J. L. were spending the night with their grandparents, Towry and his wife. Two other grandsons also were present, and the plan was for M. L. and the other two grandsons to sleep outside in a tent. J. L., who was six years old, also wanted to sleep in the tent, but her grandmother did not believe that it was a good idea for a little girl to sleep in a tent with three older boys. On the other hand, Towry, who had been drinking heavily that day, said that J. L. could sleep in the tent. Towry also suggested that the three boys sleep naked in the tent. After the four grandchildren entered the tent, Towry joined them inside, wearing only his underwear. Once inside the tent, J. L. kept on her nightgown, but the three boys decided to sleep naked as Towry had suggested. Although J. L. wanted to sleep beside her brother M. L., Towry insisted that she sleep on the other side of the tent next to him. While Towry remained in the tent, his wife went back inside their home to sleep.
