NJ father on trial: Rape, incest charges 'lies'

PATERSON, N.J. – A New Jersey man accused of raping five of his daughters and impregnating three said Wednesday that the charges against him were all lies concocted after a former spiritual leader and business rival influenced his family to turn against him.

Under questioning by his lawyer during his third day of testimony, the man said his children were happy and well adjusted, and that the charges were largely about money. He said the family's former spiritual leader tried to infringe on the defendant's soft-drink related inventions and his lucrative business working as a music video producer.

He also testified that the spiritual leader initially took in the man's wife and several of his children while the man lived in, and helped renovate, the leader's other properties in Brooklyn until the leader gradually persuaded them to turn against him.

"He didn't get my money, and he didn't like anyone to defy him; whatever control he had over them (the family) he thought he had over me," the man said.

The man's daughter and former wife testified they had moved to New York and obtained an order of protection against him when the daughter had become pregnant.

The man, who was arrested in 2006 and ruled competent to stand trial this year, has pleaded not guilty to 27 charges including sexual assault, lewdness, child endangerment and criminal sexual contact.

Three of the daughters whom he is accused of raping are believed to have given birth to a total of six of his children.

The Associated Press generally doesn't identify victims of sexual crimes and isn't reporting the name of the man or his former wife to protect the identities of their children, who are now older than 18.

The first of five trials — one for each child he's accused of victimizing — is taking place in Paterson, about 10 miles west of New York City.

The man said in court that earlier testimony by his former wife and one daughter that they were routinely abused or sexually assaulted could not be true, because such horrific incidents could never have happened without drawing the attention of neighbors or police, who he says were never called.

"They're all lies," he said. "No such thing ever happened in our family. We were surrounded by family. We were surrounded by friends. Our house was an open house. There was no surprises, no secrets."

According to court records and published reports, some of the crimes are alleged to have occurred while the family was under scrutiny by the state child welfare agency and after the man pleaded guilty to assault and child endangerment.

New Jersey's Division of Youth and Family Services has declined to comment, citing confidentiality.

The former wife and a daughter who says she bore him a child have testified that he told them he was a god and wanted to create "pure" family bloodlines. The man denied ever assaulting or raping the daughter.

The man's former wife said the man insisted most of their 9 children be born at home, forbade the family from visiting doctors or enrolling the children in school and severely restricted their diets.

The man countered Wednesday that the choice to raise their children as vegetarians, forgo childhood vaccines they considered dangerous and homeschool their kids was a joint decision between him and his wife.

He said their mix of African-inspired spiritualism dictated their lifestyle, and said his children were healthy and so well fed that the family created its own holiday, called "abundance day," where they could eat as much as they wanted.

A forensics expert testified earlier in the trial, according to The Record of Woodland Park, that the defendant was likely the father of his own grandchild, based on DNA profiles.

The defendant has yet to be questioned by the prosecution.