Brother testifies sister complained of Reggie Stafford touching her

BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle
kansas.com

WICHITA — A 22-year-old man appeared nervous and shaking as he told a jury that his little sister confided to him that a man had been touching her. The girl was 6 years old at the time, and the man took the stand this morning to testify against his mother.

The 48-year-old mother and her friend Reggie Stafford, 51, are on trial this week accused of multiple counts of rape, sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child. The mother is not being named to avoid identifying the daughter.

Prosecutor Shannon Wilson told jurors this morning that the mother prostituted her daughter out to Stafford for sex. The brother said he had been sitting in the living room when the girl said "Reggie touched her down there." The girl pointed to her vagina, the brother testified. "I was so shocked to hear that from my baby sister," he said. "I didn't know what to do."

Earlier this morning, Ruben Diaz, who lived with the family at the rented house in Planeview, said the older brother told him what had happened to the girl as the men watched television one night. Diaz said he fretted about what he'd heard for a month. "I didn't want to say something that wasn't true," Diaz testified.

After a month or two, Diaz said he told his boss, Bob Barnes. Barnes told jurors he notified the Kansas Department of Social and Rehabilitation Services the next day.

"I usually try to mind my own business," Barnes said. "But when a 6-year-old is not being protected by the people who are supposed to be protecting her, it's my opinion she is alone in the world. The law ought to get involved."

Authorities removed the girl and the other children from the house in July 2007, about three months after the brother said the girl first confided in him. The couple's defense is questioning what the girl told authorities, saying she has told conflicting stories.


Mom and friend accused of rape of 5 year old girl