David Cowan III (right) appeared in court Tuesday with his lawyer Kenneth Rexford. Cowan is accused of sexually abusing a teenage girl.
Jessica Orozco | The Lima News
LIMA — Testimony in the trial of a Lima man accused of sexually abusing a then-14-year-old girl that his girlfriend was fostering began on Tuesday.
David Cowan III, 37, is charged with three counts of first-degree felony rape, two counts of third-degree unlawful sexual conduct with a minor, second-degree felony attempted rape, fourth-degree felony gross sexual imposition and third-degree misdemeanor sexual imposition for several incidents in 2021.
The Lima News does not identify victims or alleged victims of sexual assault. Cowan’s girlfriend will remain anonymous to protect the identity of the minor in this case.
The girl’s then-foster mother testified that she had fostered her from the time she was 2 until December 2021, when the police became involved in the case.
She said on Dec. 12, 2021 in the home she shared with Cowan, she woke up to her baby crying. She said got up to find Cowan.
The woman said she noticed the light on through the garage door and thought Cowan might be in there, but did not find him when she opened the door. She said she opened the door to her foster daughter’s room, located right next to the garage, to find Cowan in there “messing with his pants.”
The woman previously testified at a preliminary hearing that Cowan was rushing to pull up his pants and get them zipped. She testified Tuesday that she saw her foster daughter’s privates exposed with her pajama pants down.
She said she yelled at Cowan, asking what he was doing in there, and called the police.
The alleged victim, now 15, testified that she is now staying with someone else at a different house. She said she had a bad relationship with her foster mother’s biological children and that they were mean to her.
The girl said her foster mother did not believe that the children were mean to her. She said Cowan was “cool” for a while before she began waking up to the man in her bedroom.
The girl detailed multiple incidents in which Cowan stared at her in her bedroom for several minutes before leaving. She said one night in October 2021, she woke up to Cowan on top of her, raping her.
The girl said the rape “hurt really bad” and rated the pain as a 10 out of 10.
She said toward the end of the same month, she woke up to the man standing next to her bed. She said Cowan had his pants off and was trying to pull her head toward his penis, but she resisted and he eventually left.
The alleged victim said that on Dec. 12, 2021, Cowan raped her again and her foster mother caught her boyfriend in her bedroom. She said after police came, she went to the hospital and received a sexual assault exam.
Testimony in the case will continue Wednesday at 8:30 a.m.
