Lewis County Sirens.com

By Sharyn  L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter

CHEHALIS – Todd Phelps won’t be testifying in his rape trial, but the jury has heard from his family members they were well aware he was texting the 16-year-old girl and trying to save her life because she was suicidal.

The former Pe Ell High School softball coach is charged with an incident or incidents of kissing and touching the team member before he was forced to resign a year ago. The 52-year-old is also charged with third-degree rape in connection with an encounter the girl described as taking place three months later at his brother’s house in Pe Ell.

The allegation regarding the rape charge is her lack of consent was clearly expressed by her words or conduct.

Phelps’ wife took took the witness stand yesterday, describing the girl as a talented ballplayer with little self worth who sometimes refused to talk.

“She needed encouragement,” Annette Phelps said.

She was virtually a part of their family during the summer of 2010 when they traveled often to softball tournaments, according to the Phelps’ daughter Angelina.

Angelina Phelps, now 20, said she tutored the girl in math.

“She would constantly talk about being ugly, say I cost that game for us, I can’t do this,” Angelina Phelps said.

Last spring their relationship became strained, she testified.

“She’ll wear you out,” Angelina Phelps said. “I mean, she has to have attention constantly.”

They are all residents of the small West Lewis County town of Pe Ell.

A jury of six women and six men are hearing the case in Lewis County Superior Court in Chehalis.

Because the expected four-day trial has already gone three days over, two jurors with previous commitments have been allowed to step down. The two alternates have stepped in.

Under questioning, Annette Phelps said she knew her husband began texting the teen in late March of last year, and he shared with his wife his dealings with the girl.

Her husband told her about the girl showing him self-inflicted cuts on her thighs she said.

“She said you can’t cry and lifted her shorts,” Annette Phelps said. Her daughter was home when it occurred, she said.

Annette Phelps recalled the girl spending the night once during spring break of last year, and being very upset and crying in the morning. The girl wouldn’t talk with her, she said, only her husband.

The teenager had stopped speaking to her father long before, she said, when he yelled at her about her cutting.

“She wanted to move out, she wanted to be emancipated,” she said. “She would tell us she didn’t even want to be home.”

Annette Phelps said her husband told her the teenager was troubled about a friend who experienced suicide in her life and another who was molested.

She said she told her husband he needed to get a hold of her parents, which he did in on April 9, she testified.

Annette Phelps testified she knew her husband had access to the teen’s hotmail account, but she never heard anything about a separate folder in there called “For my little star”. She also thought their texting ended in mid-April, she said.

In May of last year, she switched phones for her husband to keep the girl from calling, she said. She knew the girls’ parents had blocked the Phelps’ phone numbers from the girl’s phone.

Todd Phelps’ mother took the witness stand as well.

Jean Schmitt testified her son was with her at her Pe Ell home the day of the alleged incident sexual misconduct.

The 72-year-old mother of five boys said it stuck in her mind, because her daughter-in-law’s nephew had been in a very serious accident the day before and been hospitalized.

On April 2 of last year, Schmitt said, her daughter-in-law went Harborview in Seattle and Todd Phelps was with her from about 1 p.m. until 11 p.m., except when he left for five or 10 minutes to go get one of his daughters.

Deputy Prosecutor Will Halstead asked Schmitt if she knew why her son was put on leave or why he resigned. She answered that he violated school policy to save the girl’s’ life and quit because it would be better for the girl.

Under questioning, Angelina Phelps confirmed she joined them at her grandmother’s that night.

Angelina Phelps also gave an accounting of her father’s whereabouts on July 27 of last year, the day of the alleged rape.

Her father worked that day she said. He got home about 3:30 p.m. and was still home after she drove to Chehalis in the late afternoon to drop her mother off at Starbucks, she said. He was mowing the grass when she returned and they spent the evening together, Angelina Pheps testified

Her father never goes anywhere alone now, because of this case, she said.

The prosecution originally alleged in charging documents the incident of second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor occurred on April 2, 2011. Last month, after getting new information, they ammended the charging documents to allege the incident occurred sometime between March 25 and April 3.

The teen has testified she may have gotten confused on her” timeline.”

Attorneys on both sides have said jurors won’t see much of the supposed thousands of texts exchanged between Phelps and the teenager, because they were deleted.

Defense attorney Don Blair finished calling witnesses yesterday.

Blair has told the jury he doesn’t know why the girl is saying these things about his client and Phelps at no time thought the relationship was inappropriate.

One or two rebuttal witnesses are expected to take the stand this morning.

Third-degree rape carries a maximum penalty of five years in prison. There is no allegation of physical force.

Second-degree sexual misconduct with a minor is a gross misdemeanor with a maximum penalty of 364 days in jail.

If convicted, Phelps would be required to register as a sex offender.

Phelps remains free on a $25,000 unsecured bond.
•••

For background, read previous stories by scrolling down when on the homepage.

Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter

This entry was posted on Thursday, April 26th, 2012 at 8:31 am and is filed under Top story of the day. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.