After more than three years since his arrest, the trial of a Warsaw man accused of molesting a 13-year-old girl began Tuesday in Kosciusko Superior Court I. Jeff Haney, 52, was arrested in 2013 on a single felony charge of child molesting. Police allege a relationship between the two began in 2011 and continued to 2012. Haney worked for the victim’s father, and began a friendship with the teenager that “grew to something more.” The victim testified Tuesday that she would secretly meet with Haney and they would “make out.” She said one time Haney touched her chest. During opening arguments, Katy Hampton, chief deputy prosecuting attorney, said Haney systematically “groomed the victim,” and the state would prove he took advantage of a young girl. Joe Sobek, Haney’s attorney, said the state has no physical evidence to prove its case. “At the end of the day, this is ‘he said, she said case,’” he said. The relationship was made known after the teenager confessed to Melissa “Ali” Osborne, a girl she had met at Lakeland Christian Academy. Osborne met the teen during service projects at LCA. After Osborne graduated, she enrolled in Grace College, studying counseling. During her collegiate studies, Osborne sought to find a younger girl to help mentor. She and the victim met through Bible studies they attended. It was during these meetings that the girl disclosed her relationship with Haney, Osborne testified Tuesday. After talking with some professors, she convinced the teen that they should tell her parents, she said. The parents then contacted law enforcement. The victim testified she had met Haney – who was 46 at the time – about six years ago when he was working for her father. She would go in to her parents’ office and began talking with Haney. Her parents worked a lot, and he became a friend she could trust, she said. Eventually, her parents gave her a cell phone so she could text Haney, who often checked on her dogs. The teenager testified her love for animals was on the first things she found in common with Haney. Haney had grown to be more than a employee. He became a close family friend as well, she said. One time during an outing on Winona Lake, the girl’s parents saw the two in the lake holding hands, the girl said. At that point, the parents told Haney and the girl not to talk to each other anymore and Haney was fired from his job with the parents. The girl would still talk to Haney and meet him near her home, according to the prosecutor. During the victim's testimony, Hampton showed messages Haney and the girl exchanged. In one message, Haney mentioned he wanted to continue talking and meeting with her despite her dad’s demand that they stay away from each other. Many of the messages presented in court concluded with expressions of love. In one message, the girl told Haney, “I just wanted to say how much I love you. I haven't even told anyone in my family I loved them recently.” The teenager said she thought Haney was her boyfriend, and that he talked about moving in together once she was of age. Once he asked, “What would say if I asked you to marry me?” she testified. She said they continued to meet secretly near a church. During one of the meetings, the girl testified that he kissed and fondled her chest. She met him a few more times, and then said she realized she wasn’t really in love with him and ended contact, she said. Sobek had not cross-examined the teenager when Judge David Cates ended for the day. The case continued today, beginning with the teenager still on the stand.
