"Were the parents of all the other kids dead drunk in their trailers?'

This post is the cross examination by Deputy District Attorney, Mr. Zach Curtis of John Kufner on July 17 when he took the stand in his own defense. See post below.

"Are you in pain right now?" asked Mr. Curtis.

"A little but?" replied Kufner.

Mr. Curtis asked Kufner what pain meds he was taking and Kufner said "what pain meds the jail has."

Mr. Curtis asked him how long he was a handy man and then brought up the fact that he was helping a friend before he was interviewed.  Mr. Curtis asked him what tools he was using.

Then referring to his direct testimony, Mr. Curtis said, "You said they were doing their job. Do you believe law enforcement was doing anything inappropriate?"

"With the paper they had, they were doing their job but do I like them tearing my house apart?" responded Kufner. Then he said, the officers "were a bit harsh in their interview."

"Knowing what you know now, the allegation in this case are molesting a child, do you think law enforcement may be harsh? asked Mr. Curtis.

"In view that I did't do that, yes they were being harsh," said Kufner.

DDA Curtis: "Do you believe that we should investigate such crimes?"

Kufner: "Yes."

DDA Curtis: "Do you believe child molestation is a serious crime?"

Kufner: "Yes."

DDA Curtis: "Do you think it is wrong?"

Kufner: "It violates their rights and causes strong trauma and problems."

DDA Curtis: "In law enforcement interview, you said you could not remember."

Kufner: "Yes."

DDA Curtis: Have you had a chance to think things over between then and now?"

Kufner: "I've had plenty of time to think."

Mr. Curtis questioned Kufner about what kids played, where they played, why they went to his house. Kufner could not give specifics or answer why, but then he said, "maybe because I was up on my feet and their dad was dead drunk and asleep?"

DDA Curtis: "Were the parents of all the other kids dead drunk in their trailers?'

Kufner had no response.

DDA Curtis: "Upto the pretext call, did you have a good relationship with (mother's name) and the girls?"

Kufner: "Girls, yes. (mother), no."

Kufner said that Jane Doe's mother did not like him, that he knew this because she made sarcatsic comments but when asked who invited him to the girl's birthday party (before the allegations came to light), Kufner said he could not remember. When the mother testified, she was very honest about how Kufner helped her and how good he was to her daughters and family. She said they were still attached to Kufner.

Contradicting Jane Doe # 1's depiction, Kufner said that in the beginning Jane Doe took care of her little sister and resented him stepping in to parent.He said, "Jane Doe felt like I was infringing on her territory."

Mr. Curtis asked Kufner about his memory issues and Kufner responded he was "spacey." Mr. Curtis then said, "You had a pretty specific memory of 32 ounce cocktail the dad was drinking." Mr. Curtis also brought up that Kufner remembered incident he related about the girls mother and two male friends.

"That's because I wrote it down," said Kufner.

DDA Curtis: "You told law enforcement you could not remember waking up in Jane Doe's bed."

Kufner: "Did I deny it at first. Yes. I was scared, embarrassed, not proud of myself."

DDA Curtis: "So you lied to law enforcement?"

Kufner: "Yes."

DDA Curtis: "Is there a likelihood that you may say a lie again if you are scared or or embarrassed?"

Kufner: "I think it is a human thing to do."

"Until the pretext call, you had  a good relationship with Jane Doe. You have been a stabilizing force in their life, there is no reason Jane Doe would make this up," said Mr. Curtis.

Kufner then disparaged his victim and her mother. Said that the mother "resented me" and that "Jane Doe had a temper and a tendency to say things  and then not retracting it."

He downplayed his previous testimony about how he helped the girls and their mother, how he allowed them to ship stuff from Oklahoma and store it at his house, how he watched the girls, how he stepped in and took care of them when their mother, in her own words, "fell apart."

"Is there any reason that she had to be upset with you?" asked Mr. Curtis.

"She resented my relationship with the girls," said Kufner.

DDA Curtis: "I cannot remember if it was on the stand or your interview with law enfrocement, you said your body betrayed you, what did you mean by that?"

Kufner: "I was laying in bed with a young girl, my body should not be in that condition."

DDA Curtis: If it was a natural condition,  can you say what was shameful about that?"

Kufner: "I think the Sgts. were making that distinction. That maybe logical. My reaction was shick, upset because that is not how I want my body to act intentional or not."

DDA Curtis: "In the one year you were taking care of the girls, did you see any indication that Jane Doe #1 had been molested?"

Kufner: "At first her fear of the bathroom, night terrors," said Kufner. He said Jane Doe # 1told him she had been touched by a female after the bath incident with her mother.

DDA Curtis: "When she told you, did you do anything about that?"

Kufner: "I didn't find out until later I was a mandated reporter," was Kufner's response.