After a jury trial, Joseph Herring was convicted of child molestation, aggravated child molestation, and aggravated sexual battery. On appeal, he argues that the trial court erred when it allowed the State to elicit evidence concerning his sexual disposition. Herring also asserts that his trial counsel was ineffective. We find that the trial court indeed erred when it allowed counsel to cross-examine Herring concerning his sexual history and habits, including his use of pornography for the purpose of masturbation, in the absence of any evidence linking these subjects to the charged crime of child molestation. We also conclude that Herring was harmed by the error. We therefore reverse the trial court’s denial of Herring’s motion for new trial. On appeal from a criminal conviction, we view the evidence in the light most favorable to the verdict, with the defendant no longer enjoying a presumption of innocence. Reese v. State , 270 Ga. App. 522, 523 607 SE2d 165 2004. We neither weigh the evidence nor judge the credibility of witnesses, but determine only whether the evidence was sufficient for a rational trier of fact to find the defendant guilty of the charged offense beyond a reasonable doubt. Jackson v. Virginia , 443 U. S. 307 99 SC 2781, 61 LE2d 560 1979.
So viewed, the record shows that for some time before January 2004, Herring had been living with his mother, his sister, and his sister’s three children. On January 2, 2004, while Herring’s mother was at work, Herring babysat his niece and nephews while his sister went to pick up her paycheck. When the sister returned home, her seven-year-old son told her that Herring had done “something bad” to his five-year-old sister. When the sister spoke to her daughter, the daughter said that Herring had put her hand on his penis and made her move it back and forth. The sister soon left the house with her children in her cousin’s truck and spent the night at a friend’s house.
