Case Summaries: 9/27/19 and 10/1/19

This post provides summaries of the published criminal opinions issued by the North Carolina Supreme Court on September 27, 2019, and the North Carolina Court of Appeals on October 1, 2019. North Carolina Supreme Court: Evidence that the defendant had a relationship with the victim’s mother was insufficient to support an aggravating factor that the defendant took advantage of a position or trust or confidence to commit a sexual offense against the victim. State v. Helms, __ N.C. __ (Sept. 27, 2019) The defendant began a relationship with B.F. in 2012. The criminal offenses occurred in 2014, when B.F. brought her daughter L.F. (age 3 at the time) to the defendant’s parents’ house. While B.F. and L.F. were sitting on a bed with the defendant and watching a children’s television show, the defendant instructed B.F. to take off both her own and L.F.’s clothes, and she complied. At the defendant’s request, B.F. touched L.F. in a sexual manner while the defendant watched and masturbated. Afterwards, again at the defendant’s request, B.F. moved L.F. into a position where the defendant could place L.F.’s mouth on his penis. When L.F. later told her stepmother what had happened, the stepmother contacted law enforcement and social services, leading to an investigation and criminal charges. At trial, the defendant was convicted of two counts of engaging in a sex offense with a child under 13 years of age, and two counts of taking indecent liberties with a child. The jury also found that the state proved [...]