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Woman testifies in sexual assault case against Newport News Police officer, babysitter

The woman testified Friday in court and said the abuse started when she was 12.

NEWPORT NEWS, Va. — For the first time, we heard from the woman accusing Newport News police officer Robert Jones and her former babysitter Kristi Cline of sexually assaulting her for years.

The woman, who is now 23, testified that Cline would take naked pictures of her and send them to Jones. Cline ran a daycare facility out of her home and the woman said she went there after school as a child.

The woman testified that Jones and Cline sexually assaulted her more than 100 times over a two-year period. She said the first alleged incident happened in 2008 when she was 12.

The woman said initially, she was terrified to tell anyone.

The most emotional part of her testimony came when the woman told the judge that she has her own daughter and couldn't imagine this ever happening to her. The woman said the fact that Cline still ran a daycare concerned her and helped her start to tell friends and family years ago.

The woman said that she experienced anxiety, depression and PTSD after her abuse ended.

Jones' and Cline's attorneys asked the judge to find the woman's testimony not credible. They brought up the fact that she was in and out of hospitals and mental health facilities, and that she falsely accused other people of sexually assaulting her even though it never happened. The woman said she made those allegations to cover up for Jones and Cline.

The woman eventually came forward last June. Jones is still employed by the Newport News Police Department. He's on administrative leave without pay. The case is now heading to circuit court.

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