MAHONING COUNTY Defendant denies having sex with child

The defendant had a video about sex with young girls.
By D.A. WILKINSON
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
YOUNGSTOWN -- A man facing the possibility of life in prison has denied raping a young girl.
"I never touched that child or any child. Period," David Dale Byers, 34, testified Monday in Mahoning County Common Pleas Court.
A jury was to begin deliberations today after hearing summations by lawyers for the state and defense.
Byers faces the possibility of life in prison if convicted of one of the multiple charges of rape. He's accused of making the victim, a girl he knew, perform oral sex after drinking wine coolers and watching pornographic videos at his home in 2001.
The victim, who was 10 at the time, testified last week. Byers on Monday also denied ever being naked with the girl under a blanket while on a sofa in his home.
Dawn Krueger, an assistant county prosecutor, introduced as evidence several pornographic videos police seized at Byers' home. Under her questioning, Byers acknowledged that the title of one movie referred to sex with young girls.
Other details
Krueger also asked about the alleged fondling of the girl by an older man who lived in an apartment in a building where Krueger resided.
Byers testified that he said he would talk to the man. He later said he never notified police about the matter.
A $1,000-a-week truck driver who lost his job after he was charged, Byers testified about taking the victim and a young boy with him on a delivery.
The children were in the sleeping portion of the truck cab when the boy began yelling. Byers testified he opened the curtain between the seats and the sleeping area.
The girl, "had his [the boys'] pants half down and she was in her underpants," Byers said. Previous witnesses testified that the victim talked about sex, dressed provocatively and made sexual motions against objects and people.
Byers acknowledged he had not gotten a waiver from his employer to take the children on the trip.
Krueger asked Byers if he wasn't opposed to breaking the rules. Byers said he took the children on the trip because "it was so hard to find a baby sitter."
The case is being heard by Judge Robert Lisotto.
wilkinson@vindy.com