Father on Witness Stand Denies Abusing Son

By SHANNYCE LASHLEY & GABRIELA LIRA

A defendant accused of sexually abusing his own son took the stand in a Brooklyn courtroom on Tuesday to deny the charges and avow, “I love my son.”

“The allegations against me are false,” said defendant Ray Vassell, 37, of the accusation the he molested his 14-year-old son between 2009 and 2011. “I did not do this thing to my son. When my son was with me, he was fine.”

He also denied having slept in the bed with the alleged victim, declaring that his son had slept in a room on the first floor at his mother’s house the entire summer.

Last week the boy confronted his abuser when testifying in front of him. According to the teenager, the defendant “had a temper,” that scared him. The victim also said that Vassell intimidated him saying that “[he] could get in a lot of trouble for this.”

When finishing his testimony, the alleged sexual abuser asked for the empathy of the jurors; “I am telling you as a human being, this hasn’t happened. I love my son as a father should love his son,” Vassell said.

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