Jane Doe #1, Mark Dare's stepdaughter, was crying even before she took the stand. A large contingent of Dare's supporters sat in the courtroom staring at her.
As noted in a previous post, they were disruptive, talking during her testimony and and made inappropriate comments throughout her testimony. They were admonished by the Judge after the lunch break.
Jane Doe #1 was accompanied to the witness stand by Victim Witness Advocate Caitlyn Lahaie.
Deputy District Attorney Carolyn Schaffer asked her some questions to provide background and context before getting into the specifics of the alleged molestation. Jane Doe #1 is 14 years old. She is in the 9th grade. Has two siblings, an older sister and a younger brother. She is the middle child. She currently lives with her dad, Dennis Winder, her grandmother and her sister, Jane Doe #2.
She lived with her mom, Wendy Dare before and "on and off" with her dad. At that time, her dad lived with his girlfriend in Fortuna. Wendy and her biological dad, Dennis were separated. She moved in with her mom in 2010 when her dad moved to Missouri. Wendy Dare lived in Humboldt Hill.
Jane Doe #1 would not look at Mark Dare while she testified. She identified him and the only time she faced him was when she took her oath. She cried throughout as she testified. It was very hard to watch.
At the Humboldt Hill house, it was her mom, Mark, her baby brother (Mark and Wendy's son), her sister and Jane Doe #1. She and her sister shared a bunk bed. She had the lower bunk and her sister the upper bunk. There were three rooms in the house. One room was Mark and Wendy Dare's room. "If I remember right, Mark's other son was in the third room for a while.". Paul Dare was older than Jane Doe #1.
She knew Mark Dare before she moved into the Humboldt Hill house; "he was dating her mom, then fiance, then marriage."
"First things were okay, then things changed," said Jane Doe #1.
Ms. Schaffer asked, "How did things change?"
Jane Doe #1 paused for a while.
"They went from being fine to not fine," said Jane Doe #1 . She was crying and asked for a break.
After break, Ms. Schaffer asked her the question, again. There was a long, uncomfortable pause.
"I keep trying to answer but it doesn't come out," she responded.
"Attitudes were different, like (pause). There was a little bit more arguing, like whatever my sister and I did was always a problem. Like he was against anything we wanted to do or anything we said."
"Mark's attitude was different."
Ms. Schaffer asked what was the difference.
Long pause before Jane Doe #1 responded, "It is all jumbled."
"How are you feeling right now?" asked Ms. Schaffer.
"Lost," responded Jane Doe.
In between sobs, Jane Doe #1 answered the next question and said that she has been living with her dad in Eureka full-time for a couple of years, right before she started 6th grade. He rmom was not pregnant before they moved into the Humboldt Hill House; it was shortly after they moved into that house. "I remember hoping it was a boy."
Jane Doe #1 said she started feeling unsafe at the Humboldt Hill house halfway through her mom's pregnancy.
Ms. Schaffer: "What made you feel unsafe?:
Jane Doe #1: "Mark yelling and obviously other stuff."
Ms: Schaffer: "What do you mean by other stuff?"
At this point, one of Mark Dare's peanut gallery, two women who consistently were whispering and talking so loud that it was hard to focus or hear testimony, said, "What other stuff."
Jane Doe #1 was crying and she looked away from everyone.
Ms. Schaffer: "This is emotional for you."
Jane Doe #1 was sobbing, gasping for breath and asked for another break.
After the break, Jane Doe #1 responded to what other stuff by saying, "the molestation."
Ms. Schaffer: "What does molestation mean to you?"
Jane Doe #1: "Sexual assault"
Ms.Schaffer: "When did the molestation begin?"
Jane Doe #1: "I can't remember. Not specifically. "
She said it began before her baby brother was born and after she moved to the house in Humboldt Hill.
"The first time it happened was in my bedroom," said Jane Doe #1. Her sister was in the room.
Ms. Schaffer: "What happened?"
Jane Doe #1: "How much detail am I supposed to go into? He came into my room and started touching me."
She started crying again. Every time the conversation was about the molestation, she got more visibly emotional, even though she was crying through almost most of her testimony.
"He lifted up the covers and went under them." She said Mark Dare touched her body with his hands.
As Ms. Schaffer asked a follow up question specifically what part of her body did Mark Dare touch, she started crying, and responded, "It is hard to say."
Sensing her discomfort, Ms. Schaffer said that she would list body parts and Jane Doe #1 could say yes or no.
Ms. Schaffer: "Shoulders?"
Jane Doe #1: "Yes."
Ms. Schaffer: Chest?"
Jane Doe: "Yes."
It was yes to arms, hands, stomach, legs, feet, buttocks and vagina.
Ms.Schaffer: "What did he touch your vagina with?"
Jane Doe 1: "His hands. Fingering."
Ms. Schaffer: "What does fingering mean to you?"
Jane Doe #1 : "Like in and out."
Jane Doe said it felt painful in the area of her vagina where Mark Dare touched her.
She was wearing a nightgown. Mark Dare was wearing clothes while he touched her. Before he got under the covers, he was reading her a story. Reading stories at night to her and her sister was the only bedtime routine that Mark Dare was involved with, said Jane Doe #1.
Jane Doe #1 could not remember how many times she had been molested.
Ms. Schaffer, "Do you remember when it stopped."
"Like 2012, I think. When my dad moved back. We moved back with him almost immediately."
Ms. Schaffer asked how often the inappropriate touching occurred.
Jane Doe #1 said, "A couple of times a week."
Jane Doe #1 said that inappropriate touching happened in other rooms; in Mark and Windy Dare's bedroom and their bathroom. "The place it happened most was her bedroom."
"Other touching was oral," said Jane Doe #1. "His mouth on me; my vagina."
She could not remember how many times but that the molestation happened a couple times a week.
She could not remember what year it happened in the bathroom. "Nobody was home; just me and Mark."
"I was going to take a shower and he was helping me. He would turn on the water sometimes. I went to get my towel and came back. He picked me up and put me on the counter." She did not have clothes on, just towel wrapped around her. "He started oral."
When asked what he did with his mouth, Jane Doe #1 said, "I don't know how to answer that. He stopped and I got into the shower." When she got out of the shower, she said her mom and her sister were back home.
Jane Doe #1 said "it was the only time something like that happened in the bathroom."
Ms. Schaffer asked, "Was that the only time he put his mouth on your vagina?"
Jane Doe #1 said, "No. The other time it was on their bed (Mark and Windy Dare)."
"No one else was home. He had got me from school and told me to meet him in the bedroom because he had to get something from his truck. he put me on the bed on my back and took off my pants. he started the oral and the fingering." Her mom came home after Mark Dare was done and Jane Doe #1 had put her clothes on.
Jane Doe #1 said she was in elementary school but did not remember how old she was or what grade.
She said Mark Dare performed "oral in her bedroom too."
"
I don't remember any of the endings," when asked how this stopped.
Ms. Schaffer asked "if any other part of his body touched your body or any part of your body touched his body?"
Jane Doe #1 (pause), then, "He made me touch his dick; just put my hand around. He took it out. He placed my hand on his dick." This was in her bedroom.
"My mom knocked on the door. He said wait. He put everything away; his dick and left."
Previous posts:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/02/windy-dare-glares-at-me-in-courtroom.html
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/02/alleged-molestor-mark-dare-works-for.html?m=1#more
( with links to other coverage on this case)
I think your reporting, especially involving the sexual assault of children is excellent. Not too many years ago these cases would not have even been prosecuted. Maybe CPS would pull the child out of the home and problem solved. This is of course if CPS is even contacted. Having a Mother to believe and support you when you tell them is a tremendous help. The abuse is usually something most Mother’s probably already know. Having your child come to you for help and being dismissed is a big problem. If a child is removed, they might be safe, but unfortunately not the next child (Victim) that comes into the abuser’s life. I feel that your reporting brings the hidden secrets out of the dark. Your reporting of what is really happening, right now, captures the pain and despair these victims are feeling. No one wants to believe that they know and trust this person who is now being prosecuted for such horrible crimes. It’s easier to call the children liars than to accept the ugly truth. These Jane Does can’t fake this level emotion dispare. If they were lying, their untruths would have been discovered way before this. To take a case to Court takes a tremendous amount of work and EVIDENCE. These cases are not a he said/she said. By the time these cases get into the actual Court System, it is real. John, you give the young victim’s a voice. Your reporting is tell’s it like it is. There is no sugar coating. These victims are sitting before their abuser, telling very dark secrets. They are up on the stand, it in front of strangers and people they know and trusted, doing the hardest thing they will ever do. Having to recall these memories is frightening. People in the gallery should be as honest as you are and actually hear what is being said. You don’t inject your own agenda and worry about being “nice”. You share the children’s raw emotions. All of these children need to be heard and believed. More and more cases are in the Judicial system. It very well could be in part in thanks to you. The more these children find out they aren’t alone, and that what is happening is wrong, the more will step forward. NO MORE SECRETS! Tell it like it is. It’s ugly but someone has to speak up. Keep up the great reporting on all of your cases, but especially for the children.
ReplyDeleteThanks Majestic.
DeleteThank you John, for your reporting. I have been wondering where BACA is though, during these obviously traumatic court proceedings? I wish I could stand in the way of these poor girls being victimized further!
ReplyDeleteThey were there on another case, the John Beideman case yesterday. If anyone could use BACA support, these girls can. The Dares and their supporters are are not happy with me and are certainly trying intmidation tactics I am used to by now in this small town of dirty secrets and people used to reporting by others that is convenient.
DeleteThey are barking up the wrong tree if they think intimidation is going to quiet you. Intimidation is what keep the people silent and the secrets out of view. You have brought the hidden out for the world to see. Now it is time for the Dares to feel uncomfortable. Their discomfort is so minuscule compared to the discomfort these children have been through, are still going through. If he is released on bail with the assistance of his “Church Family”, that will certainly speak volumes about the local Seventh Day Adventist parishioners. If your investigation finds this is the case, please pass that on. Thank you John.
DeleteHis bail just got reduced from 2.4 million to $500,000. Yes, I am not intimidated. It would be helpful if other local media, their management to be specific would do their job. It would also be helpful if except for a few brave businesses and few leaders in power, others would not allow a few scared and disgruntled members of this community to silence them when they support me privately and believe in what I do. Not one other local media source has covered this case. They printed the press release. Minimal work required to cut and paste or check a court document. They never included court minutes before I started doing it. I do it to corroborate information, not take the easy way out. Detailed, consistent, live court reporting is not for the faint hearted.
DeleteJust sent them an email asking them to support these girls through the trial. I really hope they do! Fingers crossed!
ReplyDeleteThey are asking when the next court date is that the children will be attending?
DeleteI have no definite way of knowing that but the next court date is arraignment on charges for the jury trial. I doubt the children will be at that hearing. Unless there is a plea or a jury trial or some important hearing, the girls have no reason to attend. Shauna, since you follow my blog, when there are future dates set, you can let them know.
DeleteYes, ok. I will do that. Thank you John.
ReplyDeleteThank you Shauna.
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