THE VIRGINIAN-PILOT
Copyright (c) 1996, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: Thursday, March 7, 1996 TAG: 9603070430
SECTION: LOCAL PAGE: B3 EDITION: FINAL
SOURCE: BY ELIZABETH SIMPSON, STAFF WRITER
DATELINE: VIRGINIA BEACH LENGTH: Medium: 63 lines
Mary ``Kathy'' Smigielski went to trial Wednesday on charges of abducting her daughter and keeping the girl's father from seeing his daughter for 18 months.
Smigielski's attorney, Thomas Shuttleworth, said Smigielski fled with the girl in February of 1994 because she believed her ex-husband, John Smigielski, had been sexually abusing the child, who was 4 years old at that time.
The name of the girl, who is now 6, is not being used in this story because of The Virginian-Pilot's policy of not identifying children in sexual abuse cases.
Wednesday a jury of nine women and three men heard testimony from Dr. John M. de Triquet, a child abuse expert at Children's Hospital of The King's Daughters. De Triquet said he examined the girl in October 1993 and found that the girl's hymen, a thin membrane that closes part of the opening of the vagina, was stretched, which was consistent with ``digital manipulation.''
Norfolk Child Protective Services investigators also testified the girl told them the same month that her father had put his fingers in her vagina. The investigation resulted in a ``reason to suspect'' finding, which means there was no ``clear and convincing'' evidence of abuse, but there was reason to believe the abuse had occurred. The investigators named John Smigielski as the suspected abuser.
The ``reason to suspect'' finding was later overturned and changed to ``unfounded'' at a state hearing.
The 6-year-old's half-brother and half-sister, Nathaniel and Sarah Woodhead, told the jury that the girl used to scream and cry when she had to return to her father's home after a visit with their mother during 1993. Sarah Woodhead, who is Kathy Smigiel-ski's daughter, also said she witnessed her half-sister masturbating and discovered the girl had stopped wearing underwear the same year. ``She said her Daddy didn't want her to wear it any more,'' Sarah Woodhead said.
During this time Kathy Smigielski and her ex-husband, John Smigielski, shared joint custody of the girl.
However, after the allegations of abuse, the court ordered supervised visitation by the father. A Circuit Court judge gave primary physical custody back to John Smigielski during a January 1994 divorce hearing, saying there was no evidence he had abused the girl.
John Smigielski testified that he waited more than an hour for his ex-wife to return the child to him on Feb. 13, 1994, but when she didn't show up, he went to Kathy Smigielski's apartment to look for her, then contacted the police the following day.
He sent out fliers, hired private investigators and talked with the Virginia Beach police each week during the girl's absence, until she was discovered in Palm Springs, Calif., with her mother last August.
John Smigielski said the child was happy to see him when he picked her up at the Palm Springs airport. ``She gave me a real big hug, and showed me the fuzzy doll the police had given her.''
The trial against Kathy Smigielski, who faces a maximum sentence of five years in jail, will continue today.
KEYWORDS: CHILD ABDUCTION TRIAL by CNB