'Trust me' preceded alleged sex assaults

Boy testifies in trial of man, now 32, said to have posed as teen

Javier Erik Olvera, Rocky Mountain News

Published July 19, 2006 at midnight

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CENTENNIAL - The first of several of Zuri-Kye Latifbay McGhee's accusers took the witness stand Tuesday, but the boy refused to look his alleged molester in the eye.

Now 15, the victim held one hand to the side of his face, blocking his peripheral view of the Aurora man who prosecutors say posed as a teen and befriended several neighborhood children before assaulting them.

The witness recounted a six-month period that started three years ago when he got to know McGhee, who he said coaxed him into masturbation and oral sex by saying: "Trust me."

The boy, whose name is being withheld by the Rocky Mountain News because he is the victim of an alleged sex crime, was the first of 20 accusers - 18 boys and two girls - who may testify in McGhee's trial.

The 32-year-old faces life in prison on 77 charges that include sexual assault on a child, attempted sexual assault on a child, enticement of a child and child abuse.

The boy testified before an Arapahoe County District Court jury that McGhee played video games, rode a bike, wore youthful clothing and made everyone believe he was from 13 to 15 years old.

"He was a pretty cool kid," the boy testified, adding that he looked up to McGhee, who was muscular, and that he sought him out for bodybuilding lessons.

Those lessons started in the summer of 2003 with massages, the boy said, but shifted to masturbation during a sleepover in the two-bedroom apartment that the boy shared with his mother, stepfather and two siblings.

The boy said he cried before the second encounter, and testified that he knew what was happening, but he didn't tell anyone because he feared losing McGhee as a friend.

In all, the boy testified that there were up to 100 encounters, most of which happened while McGhee spent the night at the boy's family's apartment.

The boy's mother also testified, saying she welcomed McGhee into her home. She called him "very, very polite," and said she treated him like her own child. She said she was shocked when he bought her son roughly 30 presents for his birthday.

She approached her son several times about the nature of their relationship, questioning why they sat so close while playing video games.

The woman broke down when she recounted the day in January 2004 when her son told her about the encounters.

"I couldn't believe it," the woman cried. "I can't believe that . . . I was so stupid not to see this in my own house, under my own roof, in a bedroom that was connected to mine."

In June 2005, McGhee moved in with the family of an 11-year-old alleged victim after telling the boy's parents that his mother was living in Louisiana.

The following month, the mother of a 15-year-old was trying to track down McGhee so she could retrieve items that her son had left with him.

The woman eventually found McGhee's mother in Aurora and learned from her that he was 31.

The woman's son eventually told her that McGhee had touched him inappropriately, prompting the police investigation that led to an arrest a year ago.

olveraj@RockyMountainNews.com or 303-892-5113

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