A former assistant girl’s basketball coach at lower Manhattan’s Murry Bergtraum HS on trial for allegedly raping his three young nieces took the stand in his own defense Thursday, telling a Queens jury that he’s too loving a dad and foster father to ever hurt a child.
“As you all know, I am Kirby Dixon. I’m 50 years old. I have five wonderful children and was married for 25 years,” testified Kerbet Dixon, who is also acting as his own lawyer.
“I never ever hurt a child,” he insisted. “It is inconceivable to ever hurt a child. I never downloaded child porn. These charges are all false,” said Dixon.
But later, on cross-examination, prosecutors brought up an alleged witness-tampering scheme in hopes of casting a shadow on Dixon’s assertions of innocence.
Earlier this week, Dixon’s oldest daughter, Lorin — a UConn hoops star — had brought the trial to a standstill by revealing an audio tape in which one of the alleged victims, age 11, appears to recant her account of being raped.
On Tuesday, the same girl took the stand and told the jury that Lorin had actually coached her to lie.
Asked by prosecutors Thursday about the tape, Dixon claimed to have lost his memory.
“I don’t remember,” he repeatedly told prosecutor Kenneth Applebaum.