James Howard-George

Short clips of graphic video showing a man and a teen engaging in sex in front of others during a party last year in Butler were played for a jury on the first day of a trial in which a then-27-year-old man is accused of sexually assaulting a 15-year-old girl.

James Howard-George, 29, of Butler is facing felony charges of statutory sexual assault, involuntary deviant sexual intercourse with a person under 16 years old and corruption of minors, and a misdemeanor charge of indecent assault of person under 16 years old. The charges were filed by Butler City police following the May 7, 2021 party in a North Washington Street apartment.

The trial began Wednesday, Dec. 7, afternoon and will resume Thursday in county Common Pleas Court before Judge Timothy McCune.

One witness, Cage Hindman, now 19 years old, who is a friend of the 15-year-old girl, testified that he believed the sexual activities were consensual, and that the girl consumed a lot of alcohol and smoked marijuana at the party. He said Howard-George walked around naked and was asking for oral sex during the party. Hindman admitted to drinking alcohol at the party.

Police obtained the videos and photos taken at the party from the Snapchat account of another witness who was 15 years old at the time. That witness testified that she doesn’t remember if she transmitted the photos or videos to others. She also said she was under the influence of alcohol and “weed” at the party. The videos and photos were entered into evidence.

Both witnesses said most of the people at the party were minors, and attendees were drinking alcohol and smoking marijuana.

Detective Eric Klopfer, who investigated the case, testified that Howard-George was the oldest of the people who attended the party, but other adults were there as well. A girl shown in one of the videos seated behind him while the 15-year-old victim was performing oral sex was 12 years old, Klopfer said.

One of the public defenders representing Howard-George said in his opening statement that the 15-year-old told Howard-George that she was 18 years old. The girl’s mother testified that she learned later that her daughter told Howard-George that she was 18.

Under state law, a person can’t consent to sex until the age of 16.

Howard-George held his hand over his face while the videos were being played. Klopfer explained what was taking place in the videos and identified the other people who were visible after each clip was played.

Klopfer said he became aware of the incident through a ChildLine report.

ChildLine is part of a mandated statewide child protective services program designed to accept child abuse referrals and general child well-being concerns, and send the information quickly to the appropriate investigating agency. ChildLine is operated by the state Department of Human Services.

In describing what was taking place in the videos, Klopfer said Howard-George’s face isn’t visible in all the videos, but his face and body are shown in some of the videos, including one clip in which he is standing naked and wiggling his penis front of the 15-year-old girl.

Klopfer said he interviewed the people who attended the party. He said Howard-George gave contradicting statements, saying he didn’t have sex with the girl and that he didn’t remember if he had sex with her.

Public defender Jennifer Popovich objected to showing the videos and photos to the jury, arguing that they had not been authenticated by the person who took them. McCune overruled the objection.

Howard-George is being held in the Butler County Prison in lieu of $100,000 bail.

At the time of the incident, Howard-George was on parole for his role in disposing of the body of murder victim Melissa Barto, 26, of Butler.

He pleaded guilty to a charge of abuse of a corpse in a plea agreement in which he testified against Ishemer Ramsey, 27, of Lyndora, who was found guilty of murdering Barto on June 8, 2017 in a nonjury trial in October 2019. Ramsey is serving a sentence of life in prison.

Howard-George admitted to helping Ramsey burn and hide Barto's body in Lawrence County. He said Ramsey forced him to do so at gunpoint.

On Jan. 30, 2020, Howard-George was sentenced to serve 18 months in prison, but was paroled after receiving credit for having already served nearly two and half years in prison.