Prosecution rests in Whitefish molestation case

Prosecutors in the David Farr trial called their final witness Wednesday morning, allowing defense attorneys to begin questioning at least five of the police officers who worked on the case.

Prosecutors finished up their case with testimony from Jessie Cady, the former president of the Children's House Montessori School.

She testified to the school board's actions following the sexual assault allegations against Farr. Those actions included dismissing Farr, consulting a Whitefish lawyer and calling a meeting with parents and police, she told jurors.

Police at the December 2005 meeting specifically told school officials not to discuss the case and parents to let the police talk to their children if they had any suspicions to avoid coaching and leading questions, Cady said.

But she also said that parents were instructed it was all right to ask "appropriate" questions of their children.

The details of the case, she told jurors, were not discussed at board meetings even though two of the alleged victims' mothers sat on the board.

The defense resumed its case after calling two expert child abuse witnesses out of order last week. Attorneys called the first of five law enforcement officers who worked on the case to the stand.

Patrolman Doug Overman of the Kalispell Police Department, a trained forensic interviewer, told of how he conducted interviews with two of the alleged victims.

Overman testified that "there are inherent problems" with interviewing child witnesses and that his interviews with two victims did not produce concrete evidence. One boy didn't say anything pertaining to Farr or his alleged abuse and the other boy didn't go into much detail, according to his testimony.

Farr, 37, is charged with five counts of felony sexual assault. If convicted of all five counts, he could be sentenced to life or up to 500 years in prison.

A former administrator of Children's House Montessori School, Farr is accused of molesting five boys between the ages of 2 and 4 in the nap room and offices there. He was the school's administrator from June 2004 to October 2005.

Farr is expected to testify in his own defense this afternoon or Friday morning.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com