Family of Five-Year-Old Phila. Kidnap-Rape Victim Testifies at Trial
By Tony Hanson
PHILADELPHIA (CBS) -- The nine-year-old brother of a girl kidnapped from a West Philadelphia school last year testified today in the trial of the woman accused of the crime.
The boy was cleared to testify after the judge determined he understood right from wrong ("If you lie," he told the court, "there are consequences").
Then, watching security video from Bryant Elementary School, he identified himself and his sister walking into the school that morning.
That afternoon, after his sister had gone missing, staffers came to him, the boy testified, asking if he knew where his sister was. He didn't, and he helped look for her.
An older sister also testified to the confusion and sadness of that day.
And a very close family friend, whose name was briefly put out as possible suspect, testified to the tension in the family after the girl went missing -- the terrible helpless feeling of having no idea where the little girl was.
Defendant Christina Regusters, who cared for the child at a nearby daycare center, is charged with kidnapping and rape but has pleaded not guilty.