Supporters Crowd Courtroom For Plano Teen Accused Of Sexually Assaulting Child
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MCKINNEY (CBSDFW) - A Plano teen accused of sexually assaulting a child is getting signs of support. 17-year-old Zachary Holifield appeared in court Wednesday morning where a group of friends and family members were on hand to listen to the proceedings.
Holifield was moved to the Collin County Juvenile Detention Center after the judge transferred the case to the juvenile system. Supporters say they wish the case had started out that way to avoid attention, but now that it is in the public eye, some are standing up for him.
"He is an All-American, great boy, and if you don't say that nobody knows," Jana Sewaiseh said about Zachary Holifield. Sewaiseh has been a family friend of Holifield for more than a decade. When police arrested him for sexually assaulting a a five-year-old girl in a daycare run by his mother, Sewaiseh couldn't believe it. She was among a large group of the family's supporters who came to Holifield's court appearance, and she's urging the public to keep an open mind.
"Assuming guilt is not productive. It doesn't do anything good. What the families on both sides need is love and support regardless of the truth because they are all hurting," Sewaiseh said.
Police arrested Holifield for alleged assaults believed to have begun in April and continued through June. Investigators say there could be at least one more victim. The judge in the adult court ruled that because some of the allegations go back before Holifield turned 17, the case should be transferred to juvenile court. However since it began in adult court, many of the details in the case have been made public. That's why Sewaiseh says she's speaking out for the teen.
"His family needs to be able to deal with this in privacy, and if someone stands up for his character, maybe a few opinions will be changed," Sewaiseh said.
Now that the case is in the juvenile system, Holifield is being held without bond, but his attorney tells us he will have a detention hearing within the next ten days to try to have him released.
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