A woman close to the family of George Zimmerman, the man who killed Trayvon Martin, is claiming that Zimmerman molested her as a child. In newly-released evidence, the woman, known only as “Witness 9,” gives details of several alleged incidents where Zimmerman inappropriately touched the girl, who was as young a 12 at the time of the purported incident. She says the molestation lasted as long as a decade.
While one of Martin’s attorneys said on Twitter today that she knew about the testimony, she did not discuss it “out of respect 4 her privacy, emotional state, & the judicial process.”
Zimmeman’s attorney tried at the last minute to stop the Witness 9’s statement from being released but was unsuccessful:
Witness 9 told prosecutors the molestation began when she and Zimmerman, who is two years older than her, were young children. Her parents were moving to another state and she and her sister were sent to stay with Zimmerman’s family in Virginia.
“We would all lay in front of the TV” to watch movies, she said, “and he would reach under the blankets and try to do things. … I would try to push him off, but he was bigger and stronger and older,” she said.
He touched her improperly, she said, and at least once, when she was 12, forced her to touch him.
The last sexual encounter, she said, happened when she visited Zimmerman’s family in Lake Mary. He directed her to lay on a bed and began to massage her, she said.
“I just got up and I ran out of the house and I got in my car,” she said, adding that Zimmerman “only chased me to the front door.”
It is unclear whether this testimony would even be admissible in court, and Zimmerman’s lawyer claims that releasing the testimony hurts his chances of a fair trial. Martin’s attorneys, on the other hand, think the testimony may be relevant to have as a rebuttal witness who can show Zimmerman has an alleged “history of violence and manipulation.”
Update:
Zimmerman’s lawyer has confirmed that the woman making the allegations of molestation is George Zimmerman’s cousin. They also say that they will fight the accusations: “there will be reciprocal discovery filed regarding Witness #9’s statement.”