A 16-year-old girl testifying in the felony child sex assault trial of a former Vacaville attorney frequently said she remembered “inappropriate touching” — but not all details of physical abuse.
James G. Haskell, 42 (Solano County Sheriff’s Office)
Testifying Monday in Department 25 of Solano County Superior Court, the teenager, taking the witness stand on the sixth day of the trial for James Glenn Haskell, appeared to clearly recall significant instances of punishment and humiliations while living as an adopted child with the lawyer and his wife.
The teen, responding to questions posed by Deputy District Attorney Shelly Moore, said “inappropriate touching” began shortly after she was adopted. She recalled that Haskell, at some point “almost every night,” would cuddle her as she lay on a couch, with her lying on her right side, his arm draped over. She was 11 going on 12 at the time, she said. (The Reporter typically does not identify victims of sexual assault.)
Showing a document based on an interview with a Vacaville police detective, Moore refreshed the girl’s memory of Haskell’s “tickling game,” which was also carried out with her three siblings. At times, the defendant would allegedly tickle her on her thigh, “close to my vagina, but not on my vagina.”
The teenager did at one point ask Haskell, 42, a former member of the Reynolds Law firm in Vacaville, to stop tickling her, saying he would become angry at “small things.” The touching, she added, “made me very uncomfortable.”
Moore asked her to recall the first instance of when he assaulted her. It was in the family’s second home in Vacaville, when she was living with Haskell and his wife, Emily, who served as vice principal at a Fairfield elementary school and earlier taught at Padan Elementary in Vacaville.
The girl said that while living in the second home, Haskell took away her smartphone as punishment for being in contact with a boy. Afterward, she added, he would hit her with a belt while he was “yelling a lot and screaming.” The belt spanking occurred “more than 20 times,” with the strikes on her rear and at least one on her head, causing some bruising, she said.
At some point in February 2022, Haskell allegedly pushed her onto the home’s driveway, injuring an elbow that has a scar visible to this day.
She said that during one summer, the Haskells took away all her clothes as punishment, giving her a garbage bag to wear.
Now and then, she would glance at Haskell, bearded and seated at the defense table wearing a tie but no jacket over a white shirt with blue cross-striping, and rumpled blue slacks.
And from time to time, Judge Janice M. Williams, who is presiding over the case, would cast a glance at the defendant, who faces 16 counts, felonies and misdemeanors, crimes that allegedly occurred between October 2018 and up until early 2022, according to court documents and testimony. The allegations include four felony sexual assaults.
Haskell, seated next to Fairfield criminal defense attorney Thomas Maas, could be seen taking lots of notes during the girl’s testimony.
Moore pointedly asked the girl if she ever got into trouble for lying. “Yes,” she said, adding that lying was one reason for suffering a spanking.
In somewhat shocking testimony, she told Moore that Haskell, using two hands to grip her head, banged her head against the corner of a room wall, something that occurred “more than five times.”
“It hurt really bad,” she said.
“Did you tell him to stop?” Moore asked.
“No,” she said.
The yelling and screaming continued into her freshman year in high school and she became “scared” of James Haskell.
She also recalled Haskell putting his hands around her throat, pushing up with one hand until “it was hard to breath” while continuing to yell at her, something that only happened once.
At one point, Moore showed her photos of her spanking injuries taken in February 2022 after she reported the injuries to officials at her high school. She also said Haskell, in one instance, grabbed her by her hair, resulting in the loss of “clumps of hair.”
For a time, she and her brother were not allowed to eat with the rest of the family and could only eat after they had finished eating. Haskell enforced that rule, she said. Also, there were some days that turned into weeks when she was given only oatmeal for breakast, lunch and dinner, she said.
The girl also described being pushed into the family pool during winter. She was removed from the home on Feb. 3, 2022, but lived apart from her three siblings.
She told investigators about the alleged abuse and inappropriate touching. She said she was reluctant to intially tell an adult about the touching, scared that “James might find out and I would die.” At that point she began to cry softly to herself.
During the afternoon session, Maas continued to bear down on alleged conflicts and disagreements with James Haskell, including his refusal to return he cellphone for nine months.
Maas, citing transcripts from her interviews with police investigators, asked, “Do you remember that you told the truth?” But she responded that she did not remember telling the truth. She also told investigators that Haskell never struck her with his fist.
She continued to say she could not recall all the details of Haskell’s actions, including being unable to recall how may days she slept in the bathroom at night with her brother.
Later, the girl began to sniffle and cry uncontrollably. Judge Williams then called for a 15-minute recess.
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To counter Moore’s allegations of child abuse, Maas called two county child welfare employees, one of them testifying that, during supervised visits in February 2022, the children “appeared to be happy” when meeting with Haskell and his wife, Emily.
Besides using video recordings of interviews with the children, Maas also repeatedly referred to investigator reports, specifically what the children said, in an effort to weaken Moore’s case.
Schilling admitted Maas was correct that, in the case of one child, she did not report the sexual abuse for fear of being returned to foster care.
Haskell, reportedly now unemployed and living in Southern California, remained out of custody after posting $240,000 bail in May 2022.
Moore filed an amended criminal complaint on Sept. 15, adding five more counts, including the four felony charges alleging sexual abuse and one misdemeanor charge alleging physical abuse of a young victim and three of the victim’s siblings.
Court records show that Haskell was arrested by Solano County Sheriff’s deputies on a warrant issued May 3, 2022.
He posted $170,000 bail on May 4, but court records also show that he was arrested again, on May 5, when he posted additional bail of $70,000, bringing the total to $240,000.
If convicted at trial, besides the possibility of two life sentences, Haskell will be required to register as a sex offender.
The trial resumes at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday in Department 23 in the Justice Center in Fairfield.
