People v. Northrup CA3

FACTS

Sexual Abuse of A. (Count Six) Defendant married A.’s aunt in 1997. They separated about two years later.1 During the time they were together, A. was between two and four years old. She lived with her parents and grandmother at her grandmother’s house in Wilton. Defendant and A.’s aunt also lived there. After the separation, defendant moved out. However, because he remained friends with A.’s father, defendant routinely came over to the house so they could hang out and drink alcohol together. One night when A. was about seven or eight years old, defendant was at the house drinking alcohol with her father. A. fell asleep on a couch in the living room and awoke to defendant sexually assaulting her. As A. described during her testimony at trial: “I just remember there was this couch under the swamp cooler in my grandma’s living room, and I fell asleep there, and I just remember waking up in the middle of the night, and he had . . . his hands down my pants . . . .” A. then described defendant touching her vagina with his hands beneath her clothing. When A. realized what was happening, she pretended she was still asleep, but rolled off the couch and onto the floor to get away…