A Chattahoochee County jury found George W. Pitts, Jr. guilty beyond a reasonable doubt of rape, OCGA § 16-6-1; aggravated battery, OCGA § 16-5-24 a; kidnapping with bodily injury, OCGA § 16-5-40; aggravated child molestation, OCGA § 16-6-4 c; and aggravated assault, OCGA § 16-5-21 a.1 Pitts appeals from the denial of his motion for new trial, asserting that the trial court erred in failing to exclude a potential juror for cause, failing to merge the aggravated assault conviction into the aggravated battery or kidnapping conviction, and failing to charge the jury on aggravated child molestation. As explained below, the court did not abuse its discretion in denying the motion to exclude the juror for cause, nor did it err in failing to merge the convictions. The court did, however, err when it failed to charge the jury on the essential elements of aggravated child molestation. Accordingly, we vacate the aggravated child molestation conviction, but affirm Pitts’ remaining convictions. Viewed in the light most favorable to the jury’s verdict,2 the record shows that, in the early morning hours of July 15, 2003, Pitts abducted his girlfriend’s 15-year-old daughter from her bedroom, preventing her from screaming by putting a rag soaked with a corrosive cleaning solution inside her mouth. Pitts bound the victim’s hands and legs, put her in his van, and drove her to a rural wooded area. Pitts raped the victim in the back of the van. He then dragged her out of the van, tried to cut her throat, repeatedly stabbed her with a knife, and told her he was going to kill her. After stabbing her, Pitts went back to his van and got a metal, hammer-like tool and started hitting the victim’s head and body while telling the victim to die. When the victim closed her eyes and pretended to be dead, Pitts ran back to the van and quickly drove away.
Although the victim was seriously injured and her hands were still tied behind her back, she was able to get up, walk to a road, and scream for help. A man and his wife were driving by and saw the victim staggering in the road. They stopped to help, and the man pulled the victim to the side of the road and called 911. The victim told the couple that “George Pitts” had raped her and caused her injuries. Coincidentally, the man who stopped to provide assistance was related to George Pitts and, although he and his wife knew the victim, they did not initially recognize her because her face was very bloody and swollen. After the victim was placed in the ambulance, she told rescue personnel that “George Pitts” had raped and assaulted her. The victim was hospitalized for treatment of severe injuries, including multiple stab wounds in the neck and back, a blunt force trauma head wound, and burns to her face and mouth.
