Mom accused of prostituting daughter, 5 Wichita Kansas

BY RON SYLVESTER
The Wichita Eagle

A 48-year-old Wichita woman is accused of prostituting her 5-year-old daughter, and prosecutors say it wasn't the first time.

Sedgwick County District Attorney Nola Foulston on Friday sought a judge's permission to introduce testimony from two of the woman's grown daughters, who said she sold them for sex when they were between the ages of 8 and 14.

When the mother goes on trial, however, the jury will only hear about the 5-year-old. Prosecutors say a man the mother knew for years paid her for sex acts with the child.
Sedgwick County District Judge Greg Waller ruled this week that testimony about the 5-year-old's older sisters won't be allowed at trial.

Waller said the stories of the older women didn't meet the strict guidelines set by the Kansas Supreme Court for introduction of prior bad acts. Prosecutors said they were trying to show a pattern of behavior.

The 48-year-old mother and her friend, Reggie Stafford, 51, are charged with multiple counts of rape, sodomy and aggravated indecent liberties with a child.

The mother, who is not being named to protect the identity of her daughters, is also charged with aggravated child endangerment.

"This is a weird case," prosecutor Christine Ladner told Waller during Thursday's hearing.
"The sad facts are that (the mother) was the supplier of sex acts by her daughter to the defendant Stafford," Ladner said.

The adult daughters told Waller during a pretrial hearing Friday that they didn't want to testify against their mother.

In court, a 23-year-old daughter denied having sex with Stafford. But a social worker said the woman reported two years ago that she did have sex with Stafford, starting when she was 9 years old.

The woman changed her story in court Friday, after visiting her mother last week in jail.
"I can't testify against my mother," she said, crying. "I can't do it. I'm not doing it."

Her 25-year-old sister said she came forward when she found out the 5-year-old was going through what she had endured.

"I wanted to get it off my chest so I could go on with my life," the woman said, but she added that she was reluctant to testify against her mother.

She said she was 11 when her mom began taking her to see Stafford. The woman said she heard Stafford ask her mother whether she would bring over her other daughter, two years younger.
Defense attorneys Brad Sylvester and Sarah Flint said allowing the testimony would unfairly prejudice a jury.

"There's not a shred of evidence, just words coming out of her mouth," Sylvester said.

The key witness in the case is now 7 years old. She testified in a previous hearing that her mother took her to see Stafford on several occasions, where he performed various sex acts with her.

In return, the girl said Stafford gave her mother $6 or $7, which her mother used to buy alcohol and cigarettes.

The mother has claimed that she has a drinking problem but that she never allowed her child to have sex with Stafford.

Stafford has denied having sex with any of the girls when they were underage. Police said he told them he had sex with the middle daughter -- the one who denied any involvement with him -- after her 18th birthday.

Trial is set for March 2.