Couple found guilty in sexual assault case
When James Lester Humbert heard a Fayette County jury find him guilty of participating in the sexual assault of an 8-year-old boy, he stood and screamed at the panel, cocking a glass of water back. His wife and co-defendant, April Dawn Humbert, sat by quietly, her head down, as she heard jurors convict her of indecent assault and corruption of minors.
After two trials in Fayette County Court, the Humberts each could face up to five years in prison for the assault.
The victim, who could barely see over the witness stand as he testified Wednesday, told the seven-woman, five-man jury that April Humbert had sex with him, while James Humbert touched him inappropriately.
The contact occurred while the boy was staying with the Humberts in their South Union Township home between May and November 2000.
After he heard the guilty verdict, James Humbert smiled at his attorney, Dianne Zerega, and then grabbed his glass of water from the table, moving his arm back as if to throw it on the jurors. He put the water down and instead repeatedly shouted, “Stupid,” at jurors. Some of the women on the panel looked frightened at the outburst.
As constables restrained Humbert, Judge John F. Wagner Jr. warned him to quiet down. Seconds later, as Humbert continued to scream, Wagner ordered his removal from the courtroom.
On the way out of the courtroom, he yelled at a Children and Youth Services employee and the victim’s foster mother, accusing them of lying in court.
Wagner ordered April Humbert to undergo a Megan’s Law evaluation to determine if she is a sexually violent predator. State officials will conduct the evaluation to determine if Humbert meets certain criteria and should be considered a sexual predator.
If the state board makes that determination, Humbert could be subject to lifetime community notification.
Wagner will make the ultimate determination based on the board’s recommendation and any testimony presented on Humbert’s behalf at a later date.
The process of evaluating alleged sexual predators is named after Megan Kanka, who was killed by a twice-convicted pedophile living in her neighborhood in 1994.
Two years later, her parents pushed for a federal act that required community notification of sexually violent predators.
The state board will examine only Humbert, because she was convicted of indecent assault. Her husband was charged with, and convicted of, only corruption of minors.
This was the second trial for the Humberts, who were convicted in 2001 of beating their younger daughter with a belt and a brush. It was a reference to that earlier conviction that caused a juror who first heard evidence in this sex assault case earlier this year to determine he could not fairly deliberate.
The man heard a radio account that detailed the physical abuse conviction. The judge in that case declared a mistrial.
Attorneys for both the Humberts told jurors in their closing remarks that both of their clients maintained their innocence of the charges.
Defense attorneys Dianne Zerega and Jeffrey Proden argued that the 8-year-old boy made false allegations against the Humberts.
Zerega, who represented James Humbert, suggested that the boy felt angry with the couple and made up the allegations so that he could stay in foster care. Proden suggested that the boy made up a lie and then felt forced to stick with it.
“Is (he) just making things up? I submit he is, and he doesn’t realize the impact of his actions on (April Humbert) and her husband,” said Proden.
But, special child abuse prosecutor Jack R. Heneks Jr. told jurors not to fall for either excuse.
“Either (he) is a scheming 8-year-old … or he’s a completely unaware 8-year-old just dreaming all this up. I would suggest to you neither of those made sense,” said Heneks, who tried the other cases involving the Humberts.
He noted that the victim knew about, and was able to draw for state police trooper Jeffrey Ramsey, what April Humbert’s genital area looked like.
Without sexual contact, contended Heneks, the child would not have known.