NORTHAMPTON — The jury in the case of a former South Hadley man accused of raping a 5-year-old girl in 2001 deliberated for about four hours Wednesday before recessing for the day and resuming Thursday morning.
Guy Bush Jr., who turns 47 Thursday, of Grand Island, New York, allegedly molested the girl in her bedroom on multiple occasions — allegations he fiercely denied in court on Wednesday. Bush was known to the girl, though they are not relatives.
After he was indicted in 2014, Bush pleaded not guilty in Hampshire Superior Court to child rape and indecent assault charges.
When he took the stand Wednesday afternoon, Bush sat quietly, sharply exhaling before he testified.
“I’m charged with some very serious crimes I did not commit,” Bush told the jury. “And my life’s in somebody else’s hands.”
Bush asserted his innocence from the stand when his attorney, Jon Heyman, of Northampton, asked him if he had molested the now 19-year-old woman.
“I want to be crystal clear about this – absolutely not,” Bush said, turning to the jury. “That never happened.”
Heyman contended in his closing arguments that Bush would not have had the opportunity to commit such crimes because the alleged victim and a sibling shared a bedroom — even though the woman said she had her own bedroom at the time of the alleged incidents in 2001.
The Gazette generally does not identify alleged victims of sexual assault.
The alleged victim testified she and her older sister did not begin to share a room until the abuse began. The 19-year-old woman told the jury she begged her sister, now 22, to share rooms to combat the alleged molestation, even though she never told anyone about the alleged abuse until years later.
“It was a difficult time for all of us,” her sister testified, adding that their mother told her she was to look after her younger sister when the mother was not around. After the sister learned of the alleged molestation, she testified, she “didn’t want to believe something could happen when I was watching her.”
Heyman raised the question to the jury about whether the alleged victim was lying. “Maybe,” he answered. Or perhaps, he added, the woman was correctly remembering what happened to her, but had the wrong man.
Needless to say, Heyman contended, there was reasonable doubt.
Assistant Northwestern District Attorney Caleb Weiner in his closing arguments implored the jury to remember the alleged victim’s testimony.
“The question I’m asking is, ‘How will you listen to someone who says they were sexually abused?’” Weiner told the jury.
He recalled her emotional testimony. “That wasn’t manufactured,” Weiner said. “She’s not an actress.”
The jury is scheduled to continue deliberations at 9 a.m. Thursday.
Michael Majchrowicz can be reached at mmajchrowicz@gazettenet.com.