FARMINGTON — The father of a girl who was sexually abused in 2014 said Wednesday that she is terrified of her abuser.
“I can’t tell you what that is like to have a child you cannot console because someone violated her,” her father said in Franklin County Superior Court.
Ross Adams, 52, was convicted Tuesday by a jury of unlawful sexual contact for abusing her from July to October 2014 when they both lived in Farmington.
Adams, who lives in Martha’s Vineyard, Massachusetts, faces up to 30 years in prison and a $50,000 fine. He is being held without bail pending a sentencing hearing tentatively set for July 25.
The defense plans to file a motion for a new trial.
The girl has lived with her father in Florida since October 2014.
Her father was in court Wednesday for presentation of victim impact statements before he and his daughter return to Florida.
The girl submitted a written statement to be considered at Adams’ sentencing but did not want to come to court Wednesday, according to Deputy District Attorney James Andrews.
The father, who broke down on the witness stand Monday, struggled Wednesday to maintain his composure as he told how the abuse affected his daughter.
He said she grew up on the ocean and was always around and in water, but when she came to see him in Florida, she would not go into the water.
“I didn’t understand why she didn’t want to come into the water,” he said.
She told him the water stings her private parts, he said.
She no longer gets invited to sleepovers, because she gets scared and calls him to come get her, the father said.
He said his daughter was a strong child who now has nightmares and is terrified Adams is going to show up in her life, the father said.
He said he hopes Adams gets the maximum sentence and receives help.
dperry@sunmediagroup.net
Ross Adams (Franklin County Detention Center)
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