Prosecutor: Adoptive Father Apologizes For Abusing Girls

LOUISVILLE, Ky. -- A child sexual abuse trial against an Indiana adoptive father continues Tuesday. Charles Sparks' accusers are three sisters who were adopted into the suspect's family in the late 1990s.

Sparks, 63, and his wife, Linda, adopted three sisters more than 10 years ago, when the youngest was about 5 years old.

In April 2008, after the sisters reached adulthood, they filed charges against their adoptive father alleging continual sexual abuse.

Sparks originally faced 58 counts of child abuse, but now he's being tried on 10 counts of child molesting, sexual misconduct with a minor and child seduction.

Since the trial began, Sparks has refused to show his face as he arrives or leaves from the courtroom.

Tuesday, the prosecution called Chris Yarbrough with the Clark County Child Protective Services to the stand. He testified he has been involved with over 4,000 CPS cases and explained to the jury how CPS began to investigate this sexual abuse case.

Monday the prosecution put all three sisters on the stand with emotional testimony. At times the sisters broke down on the stand.

At the end of questioning with the older sister, prosecuting attorney Brittany Blau played a tape secretly recorded by the oldest daughter. She worked with a detective involved in the case to record a conversation she had with her adoptive father, whom she called dad.

In the conversation, she asked her father for an apology for what he had done.

She recounted in explicit detail sexual acts and encounters with Sparks and asked him why he did them for so long to her and her sisters.

While Sparks never admitted on the tape to any specific sexual acts, he is heard on the tape saying he was sorry and that he didn't treat the girls right and asking for forgiveness. At one point in the tape he said, "I hope you're not taping this."

One of the sisters took a polygraph test and passed. Sparks also took a polygraph, but failed.