During the trial of a man accused of having sexually explicit Facebook conversations with a 13-year-old girl, it was revealed he told police, "I don't know any 13-year-old girl," but "a 17-year-old girl I might talk to." The trial is taking place in the courtroom of Federal Judge Sandy Mattice.
Randy Sweeney, 49, was arrested after the young girl's mother called police.
It was stated that at the time of their Facebook conversations, the juvenile was starting to date Sweeney's wife's 14-year-old brother.
Sweeney told police the girl was the one who started their Facebook friendship.
During the recorded police interview, Sweeney said, "As soon as her momma told me she was 13, I deleted her and blocked her. She tried to add me two more times."
He described their conversations, "She just kept asking questions and she told me she wanted to do things."
Sweeney told police, "Her fantasy is to be raped."
However, defense attorney Amanda Dunn said there was no way to know for sure that Sweeney actually sent the messages. She said someone else could have used his computer, such as his wife's brother, who was often at their home.
The juvenile, now 16, was called to the stand as a witness.
Attorney Dunn noted that nowhere in the Facebook conversations did Sweeney explicitly ask for photos, videos, or to meet up with her. The girl agreed that this was true.
However, attorney Dunn said, at one point, the girl volunteered to send pictures of herself if Sweeney would talk to his wife's brother for her.
Attorney Dunn also said up until this point, their conversations had been entirely platonic. She said it was "almost like another person was talking to her."
When questioned, the girl replied "I don't remember." She said she did not remember sending more friend requests to Sweeney after he deleted her.
However, attorney Dunn showed the jury where the girl had messaged Sweeney, asking him to add her other Facebook account as a friend.
Attorney Dunn also asked to present into evidence a conversation between the girl and Sweeney's wife after his arrest.
The girl testified that she did not remember having the conversation and said her mother could have logged into her account and pretended to be her.
The message from the girl's account to the wife said, "Please, I'm sorry. I told her not to call the cops."
Attorney Dunn asked her if it made sense for her mother to send a message like that, but she simply replied, "I don't know."
The prosecution objected to this transcript being made a part of the evidence because of the lack of verification of who sent the message.
Judge Mattice dismissed the jury at this point and said he would rule on the matter on Wednesday after he had time to consider it.