Alleged victim testifies in decades-old rape case

SALEM – A man who alleges he was repeatedly raped by a half-brother when he was a boy testified Wednesday that his relationship with his half-brother was “terrible; very, very horrible.”Richard Jones Jr., 42, of 29 Auburndale Road, Marblehead, a former school custodian, went on trial this week in Salem Superior Court on a charge of forcible child rape stemming from incidents occurring between November 1982 and May 17, 1986, while the family was living in an apartment in Peabody.The alleged victim, now 33 and a resident of New Hampshire, described the ordeal he encountered when he was about 7 years old and Jones, who babysat him after school, was 17.He described how Jones would physically abuse him, punched him in the stomach, shoot staples and elastics at his genitals and threatened to kill him if he told anyone.”He’d say ‘if you don’t do that I will kill you,'” the alleged victim, in a somber voice, told the jury of seven men and seven women.”How did you know what he meant?” asked Assistant District Attorney Kim Faitella.The alleged victim replied, “I just knew. He had that mean look. At that time I was so fearful of my life.”He described how the rape occurred three times a week and slowed down when his mother stopped working and was home because she got sick.The family moved to Manchester, N.H. in 1986 on the day the alleged victim turned 8.Earlier this week his mother testified she came home from work one day and saw Jones and her son in a bed, both naked, but she didn’t want to believe what she saw and was in denial.Defense lawyer Jessica Thrall is focusing on inconsistencies between the alleged victim’s recollection of events and his mother’s version.The jury is expected to begin deliberations on Thursday following closing arguments.A conviction on the charge carries a life sentence in state prison.Jones is free on bail but has other pending rape and assault charges involving alleged sexual misconduct with two teenage girls in Marblehead; charges he also denies.