GREENVILLE, S.C.-- For the first time ever we heard from a 9-year-old boy who says an Easley man molested him. Hal Westmoreland's trial began on Wednesday.

Westmoreland was the youth director at First Baptist Church in Easley. He also worked in a paintball store, which is where one of the alleged incidents took place. FOX Carolina was the only television crew inside the courtroom for the proceedings.

Full article: foxcarolina.com - News, Weather, Video - Greenville, Spartanburg, Asheville, Anderson | Westmoreland Trial Enters Second Day

This is ridiculous. I was one of the gun-techs then and I can tell you this: those kids made that stuff up purely out of spite, because we wouldn't take their beaten-up autococker and bushmaster on trade (they were stolen, by they way).

Hm.. also, why would some kid alleging molestation come out for try outs for the team at the same field the next weekend? Wouldn't you think twice about patronizing a business that you claim to have been "fondled" at?

It's nice you made that post, but shouldn't you be testifying instead of posting? If the police had been called about the stolen guns, the kids would be explaining themselves, not the adult.

And as I remember it, the dude was fired after the allegations were made. Maybe they were just looking out for themselves, but it made it look bad for him.

It always best to avoid being alone with a kid or kids you're not kin to--male or female. I don't know if that happened or not, but if that didn't happen & he had witnesses, they wouldn't have a case.

I hope you know what you're talking about, but I can tell you the "why" questions don't work, especially with an intelligent jury. Why? Well let's use an example from something else to drive home the point. MANY, MANY women have been beat almost to death only to return to live with their abuser. Using straight logic, it doesn't make sense at all. When you dig deeper though, it gets interesting. Bottom line--most of the time, asking why in these situations doesn't get you to the truth.

BTW--why would a stripper (who supposedly needed to keep earning money from stripping) lie & say some Duke guys raped her when they were nice enough to look past their different skin colors & hire her to strip? The answer is this: You don't need to know why, you only need to know that it happens, so you should look at the evidence and nothing but the evidence.

From what I've read, there is no evidence--only allegations.

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I'm sure the evidence about them having the stolen equipment will come up tomorrow, err, later today as material against the character of the kids.

I understand how the "why" arguments don't work now, it's nothing but speculation. I just want to see how those kids' accusations get ripped apart tomorrow during the trial. There are so many inconsistencies, so many missing elements and improbabilities. How could a man get away with molesting a 9 year old in the middle of a bustling paintball shop one Saturday morning? I can tell you this much - he wouldn't get 3 feet out the door, that's for sure. It's just ridiculous how far these kids will go to cover their own tracks and keep up this charade.

News update:

foxcarolina.com - News, Weather, Video - Greenville, Spartanburg, Asheville, Anderson | Trial Day Two: Accused Molester Takes Stand

Hows a 16 year old gonna say he was molested? I'm 16 and if some old guy's going to try that, there's going to be some s@$t going down if that ever happend. He's old enough to defend himself unless he liked it. Just my 2c.

It says hes 9.

If you read the whole article there is also a 16 year old who also claimed that he was molested.

Update:

Greenville paintball store employee found not guilty of fondling


MyrtleBeachOnline.com | 06/08/2007 | Greenville paintball store employee found not guilty of fondling

It was the right decision for the case. Charges shouldn't even be brought in he said/punk said cases. It's impossible for such cases to meet the "guilt beyond a shadow of a reasonable doubt" standard that's supposed to exsist for a guilty verdict.

Carolina Riot
www.carolinariot.com

Proudly Sponsored by SC Army Surplus
www.scarmysurplus.com

"When you're in command, command!"-Vice Admiral William F. "Bull" Halsey Jr. (WWII)