C.A. 4th;
E065260

The Fourth Appellate District affirmed a judgment of conviction. The court held that a parent's physical violence towards his young child, whom he also sexually abused, provided the element of force or fear necessary to support his conviction for aggravated sexual assault.

Edward Thomas was tried before a jury on charges of aggravated sexual assault on a child. The charges were based on Thomas' alleged sexual abuse of his daughter over a period of 10 years, beginning when she was four or five years old. Thomas' daughter, now an adult, testified not only to the sexual abuse she had suffered at Thomas' hands, but also to physical abuse. She testified to repeatedly being beaten by Thomas, and to not telling anyone about the sexual abuse because she was afraid the beatings would get worse. She testified that the physical abuse made her afraid of Thomas throughout her childhood. She knew “never to cross him.” The jury found Thomas guilty as charged.