Children can testify in abuse trial

Children can testify in abuse trial

Judge also rules against allowing James and Vonda Ferguson to be tried together

Thursday, September 28, 2006

By Natalie Morales

Staff Writer

MARYSVILLE — The five adopted children who James and Vonda Ferguson allegedly abused over four years did not appear in court Wednesday as scheduled.

James Ferguson's attorney Kerry Donahue requested the hearing to determine whether the children, now ages 10 through 16, were competent to testify for the state in James Ferguson's trial.

Union County Common Pleas Judge Richard Parrott said an Ohio statue states any witness 10 or older is presumed competent unless an opposing party can produce evidence refuting the fact.

Parrott decided the children's competency could not be questioned because of their age and because of the defense's lack of witnesses or facts to support the claims that the children's abusive experiences before living in the Ferguson home affected their mental competency.

Donahue declined comment.

The Fergusons, of 1337 Northfield Court, pleaded innocent in August to 61 counts of felonious assault, permitting child abuse and endangering children for incidents in Clark and Union counties.

Vonda Ferguson also was charged with two counts of rape.

The allegations against the couple include burning the children with an iron, beating them with a hammer and forcing them into scalding hot bath water.

Union County Prosecutor David Phillips said he was confident the children could have answered questions to prove their competency if the hearing had taken place.

If the children had not been deemed competent to testify, the prosecution could have lost some important witnesses.

"These sorts of cases don't happen in public, generally speaking, so the victim testimony in a case like this is always extremely important," Phillips said.

Also in the case, Parrott filed a response last week that overruled Phillips's motion to consolidate James Ferguson's trial with his wife's trial.

The motion requested they be combined because "the indictments against both individuals involve similar issues and for purposes of judicial economy."

A similar but separate motion was filed regarding Vonda Ferguson's case, but Parrot has yet to rule on it.

Phillips said he anticipates the same ruling.

Vonda Ferguson, who retained Columbus-based defense attorney George Wolfe, is scheduled to go to trial Dec. 11. James Ferguson's trial is set to begin Feb. 5.