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Reno sex assault case gets under way
More articles on this topic: Raymond Russell GeorgeMan accused of battering, molesting kids
A Reno man calling himself “Jacob” took three children into his home, restricted their movements and ultimately sexually abused the two girls in a cult-like setting that lasted more than two years, a prosecutor told a jury Monday.
“That man sexually assaulted the two sisters, and he physically battered their younger brother in his own apartment for nearly two-and-a-half years,” Deputy District Attorney Bruce Hahn said, pointing to Raymond Russell George at the defense table reading a Bible.
Using the Bible as his authority, George manipulated the children into believing the behavior was acceptable, Hahn said during his opening statement in Washoe District Court.
But George’s attorney, Deputy Public Defender John Malone, told the jury its job will be assessing the truth of the children’s stories.
‘98 percent not a crime’
“About 95 to 98 percent of what Mr. Hahn said is true,” Malone said. “But 98 percent is not a crime,” including making the children read the Bible each day and controlling their social lives.
The claims made about sexual, physical and emotional abuse were fabricated by the children, who no longer wanted to live in such a restrictive environment, Malone said.
“There were a lot of things in that household that those children didn’t like,” Malone said. “The evidence will show that the sexual abuse was made up to get out from the control of Russell George.”
The trial in Judge Steven Kosach’s court is expected to take three or four days. George is charged on two counts of sexual assault on a child and four counts of lewdness with a minor.
Police were alerted to the situation at George’s apartment when the older girl, then 15, sneaked a letter to her grandmother about alleged abuse, Hahn said.
Reno police interviewed the children, searched the apartment, and arrested George, his wife Mary Smalley, and the children’s parents, Doug and Marnie Moulton. Smalley and the children’s parents have been charged with child endangerment.
Marnie Moulton was living with her three children in California in 2000 when Doug Moulton invited her to live with him in Reno, Hahn said. When they arrived, they found him living with George.
Crowded apartment
The apartment was crowded with seven people, so the Moultons moved out, leaving the children with George, Hahn said.
“What they discovered was their life was about to change,” Hahn said.
George required them to read the Bible three hours a day, subjected them to physical punishment, verbally chastised them and would not allow them to visit with friends, Hahn said.
George’s religious beliefs also included multiple wives, Hahn said. He made both girls his wives and spent time with them in a “fantasy room” and “pleasure room” in the apartment, Hahn said.
Finally, in the summer of 2003, when the oldest girl was 15, she contacted her grandmother. After an investigation, the children were taken from the home, Hahn said.
But Malone said George’s religious discipline is not a crime.
“We have a separation of church and state in this country,” he said. “We don’t want to control people’s minds, people’s beliefs, people’s gods.”
In that house, “everyone read the Bible, lived with the Bible,” Malone said. “That was part of their education and their commitment to God.”
The older girl, her sister, 13, and a brother, 11 or 12, were taken into custody by county social service officers.
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