This case arises out of allegations by a minor male child that his mother and her boyfriend forced the child to engage in sexual acts with them. The jury convicted the boyfriend, Billy Driggers, of aggravated child molestation, child molestation, aggravated sodomy, furnishing harmful material to a minor, and two counts of cruelty to children.1 The trial court denied Driggers’s amended motion for new trial. On appeal, Driggers contends that there was insufficient evidence to convict him of aggravated sodomy, and that the trial court erred by denying his motion to suppress and by allowing the child victim’s psychologist to remain in the courtroom when the victim testified. He further contends that his trial counsel provided ineffective assistance in several respects and that his sentence for aggravated child molestation violated his equal protection and due process rights. For the reasons discussed below, we affirm. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we construe the evidence in the light most favorable to the prosecution, and we defer to the jury’s assessment of the weight and credibility of the testimony and documentary evidence. Walker v. State , 282 Ga. 406 651 SE2d 12 2007. So viewed, the evidence showed that in July 2001, the victim’s mother moved in with Driggers. They lived together rent-free in a small outbuilding owned by Driggers’s mother and stepfather, Gloria and George Lacey. The outbuilding was supplied electricity and phone service from the Laceys’ home, which was located on the same property, and the outbuilding did not have an address separate from the Laceys’ home.
Shortly after the victim’s mother and Driggers moved in together, the twelve-year old victim came to live with them. From July 2001 until a few weeks before Christmas 2001, Driggers repeatedly sexually abused the victim, threatening to shoot and kill him if he did not engage in the requested sexual acts. On multiple occasions, Driggers made the victim smoke marijuana, snort Ritalin, and wear dresses, makeup, and panty hose with the crotch area cut out. Driggers likewise would wear dresses, panty hose, and women’s underwear. Driggers then would touch the victim’s penis with his hands, perform oral sex on the victim, and require the victim to perform oral sex on him, among other sexual acts. This sexual abuse occurred in the presence of the victim’s mother. During these encounters, the victim’s mother and Driggers also forced the victim to have oral, anal, and vaginal sex with his mother. Additionally, Driggers made the victim watch pornographic movies while the sexual acts were being performed.
