Dec 11, 2002 By Jennifer Harr 4 min read

A mistrial was declared in the sexual-abuse case lodged against a South Union Township couple after a juror heard information about the case on a local radio station. After lunch, the male juror heard closing arguments and then briefly participated in deliberations, before he summoned a court official. He told the official that he could not impartially deliberate because he heard that April and James Humbert were previously convicted of physically abusing their 9-year-old daughter.

The current case involves a now-8-year-old child that the couple allegedly sexually abused while he was in their care.

The jurors in question told Fayette County Judge John F. Wagner Jr. that he heard the information about the prior conviction during the court’s lunch recess.

Because the juror had not shared that information with the rest of the panel, Wagner asked the Humberts if they would waive their rights to a trial by 12 jurors, and let the remaining 11 decide the case.

Both declined, forcing a mistrial.

The two-day case revolved around allegations that April Humbert forced the boy to have sex with her, while James Humbert took off his clothes and participated. April Humbert is charged with indecent assault and both are charged with corruption of minors.

State police trooper Jeffrey Ramsey charged the Humberts with abusing the child after the boy confided to a foster parent that the couple had sex with him.

The boy’s foster mother said she was correcting him after he looked under stalls in the bathroom at school when he told her about the alleged abuse.

Stunned and upset, the woman called ChildLine, a registry for child-abuse complaints. Then, she turned her attention on her foster son.

“I tried to reassure him that would not happen here,” said the woman.

In response, she testified that the boy came over and gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

“He said, ‘This is the way it should be, right, Mom?’ And I said, ‘Yes,'” she testified.

Special child-abuse prosecutor Jack R. Heneks Jr. said he felt that the boy’s need to seek reassurance that hugging and kissing was normal behavior spoke volumes about what had happened to him.

The boy’s foster mother also testified that her son has lied to her before under questioning by defense attorneys David Kaiser and Dianne Zerega, who represent April and James Humbert, respectively.

But, said the woman, his lies were those of a normal 8-year-old.

In their closing remarks, Kaiser and Zerega both reminded jurors that the boy has lied to his foster mother before. They each questioned the believability of the child’s story, noting that he told several different versions of events to police and Children and Youth Services employees.

In on version, the boy said his sister was present during the abuse, but later told CYS caseworker Kim Schuessler he had lied.

Zerega and Kaiser also cited that the boy at first said James Humbert was no involved, but later said he participated. They also pointed out that the boy told CYS officials initially that his mother also abused a friend named “BJ” who he later said was imaginary.

“When someone young gets on the stand, you have a tendency to want to believe them,” Kaiser told jurors in his closing, “but, their life and liberty is on the line,” he said, referring to the Humberts.

Kaiser also suggested that police and CYS workers suggested things to the boy to prompt the story, causing it to “grow and change.”

Heneks countered by showing jurors an exhibit they took with them to the deliberation room: a drawing by the boy of himself and April Humbert having sex. Ramsey asked the boy to draw the picture to get additional information from him.

In it, Humbert is smiling and the boy’s mouth is drawn in an “O” shape.

“(The victim) told you he drew his mouth that way because he thought, ‘Oh my god, I’m having sex with my mom,'” Heneks reminded jurors.

The case will be scheduled for retrial in the coming months.

The Humberts are currently incarcerated on the conviction for physically abusing the 9-year-old girl. They were sentenced to 11 1/2 to 23 months in prison, plus an additional six months because they fled the county before sentencing.