A 51-year-old Havre de Grace man, who acknowledged fathering his stepdaughter's three children, was convicted in Harford Circuit Court Friday of sexual child abuse and perverted sexual practices.
Judge Cypert O. Whitfill ordered a pre-sentence investigation of the defendant, Richard Lindon Haney, of the 200 block of Wilson St., and revoked his $10,000 bond pending sentencing Jan. 26.
The victim, now 37, testified that Haney began abusing her when she was 9 years old, shortly after he had married her mother in New Jersey in 1966.
The victim's first child was born nine months to the day after she said Haney began a Christmas Eve tradition in 1973 of having sex with her.
Haney's three-day trial focused on a narrower time frame -- from the date the family moved from New Jersey to Conowingo Road in Hickory until the victim became 18 years old.
Trial evidence showed that the family moved to Maryland Aug. 4, 1973, about a month after the victim's 16th birthday.
The victim said her stepfather at first fondled her and that his sexual abuse progressed to oral sex. She said Haney had sexual relations with her for the first time about 1968, when she was 11.
Sgt. Jordan Watts of the Harford Sheriff's Criminal Investigation Division, testified that Haney cooperated with authorities and acknowledged that his stepdaughter's three children, born in 1974, 1976 and 1978, were his.
Haney kept the children's birth certificates in a safe and gave them to him, Sergeant Watts said. The birth certificates listed Haney as the father of the victim's three children.
"Mr. Haney told me that the first time he had any sexual contact with [his stepdaughter] was Christmas Eve, 1973," the sergeant said.
The stepdaughter testified that she and Haney were left alone at home Christmas Eve, 1973 when her mother and other family members went to New Jersey to visit relatives.
"We decorated the tree -- the younger kids always thought Santa decorated our tree on Christmas Eve -- and we had sex," the victim said.
"Mr. Haney told me that, since that first time, it had become a tradition for them to make love on Christmas Eve," Sergeant Watts said. He also testified that Haney said the victim's mother never knew about the abuse.
The victim's brother testified that Haney made "almost nightly visits" to the victim's room.
The brother said he never heard any noise when his stepfather was in his sister's room, "except once I thought I heard her say, 'No, no, no.' "
Haney's relationship with the victim continued until she moved out of the house in 1984, at the age of 27. That year, the victim's mother divorced Haney on grounds of adultery, said prosecutor M. Elizabeth Bowen.
The jury of four women and eight men deliberated only 25 minutes before returning guilty verdicts on both counts.
The jury's forewoman, Suzanne Schmidt, said that the verdicts were reached quickly because the panel members felt that since the defendant had fathered the victim's three children, that proved sexual abuse during the time period in question.
Judge Whitfill did not tell the jury until after the verdict that Haney fled the courthouse Thursday afternoon during a recess that was called so he could consult his attorney to decide whether he would testify in his own defense.
Judge Whitfill issued a bench warrant for the man's arrest. Sheriff's deputies found him at 7:30 a.m. Friday when they responded to a call about a man in a field near Route 543 and Wheel Road.
The defendant was arrested and taken to the Detention Center, and was later returned to the courthouse for the trial's conclusion, a sheriff's spokesman said.
Haney did not testify.
Assistant Public Defender Eric P. Macdonnell, who represented Haney, said his client probably will appeal the conviction after sentencing.
Haney faces up to 15 years in prison on the sexual abuse count and up to 10 years on the perverted sex acts count.