Judge rules on testimony against NJ man accused of raping, beating 5 daughters

Judge rules on evidence in NJ incest case

PATERSON, N.J. — Jurors will get to hear testimony of the extreme physical and mental abuse allegedly inflicted by a New Jersey man accused of repeatedly raping his five daughters and terrorizing his family for years.

New Jersey Superior Court Judge Raymond A. Reddin ruled Friday that testimony describing the abuse and isolation of the family is relevant to the case, including allegations that the man ordered all children be born at home to remain undocumented, depriving them of food and medical care, keeping them out of school and threatening them with death if they told anyone.

“The jury can’t decide this case in a vacuum,” Reddin said. “Without the background leading up to the alleged assaults, the alleged assaults become almost unbelievable.”

The Associated Press generally doesn’t identify victims of sexual crimes and is not reporting the names of the husband and wife to protect the identities of their children, who are now over 18.

The former wife of the 51-year-old defendant testified at a hearing that he claimed to be a prophet whose apocalyptic visions drove him to try to create “pure” family bloodlines by impregnating three of his teenager daughters.

The judge ruled Friday that the first of five separate trials, one per child victim, will start May 3.

Because the trials will be held separately, the judge ruled that jurors can hear testimony about the home atmosphere, but not specific allegations of rape and abuse that pertain to the other cases.

Daryl Pennington, a lawyer for the defendant, declined to comment after Friday’s court hearing, saying only his client remains in custody at the Passaic County Jail. He is being held on $1 million bail.

During Friday’s hearing, Pennington objected to the fact that media cameras were allowed into the courtroom.

His client, who was arrested in 2006, sat in court Friday shackled at the hands and ankles. Wearing dark green prison scrubs and shoulder-length dreadlocks, the defendant listened to the judge without any visible reaction.