Testimony begins in trial of ex-officer
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 3, 2015 1:46 PM
Diamond Coley Smith broke down when she detailed, for a Wayne County jury, how her mother reacted when she confided in her that her stepfather sexually assaulted her.
"She put it back on me. She said our lives would change; we would have to move; it would be all over the TV," the 28-year-old said. "All these shameful repercussions would come about."
Mrs. Smith was the only witness called Monday in a trial stemming from allegations that former Goldsboro police Capt. Chad Calloway repeatedly sexually abused and assaulted his stepdaughter -- from the time she was only 9 or 10 years old until she was 15.
And the 28-year-old was set to return to the stand this morning to complete testimony that was, at times, so graphic it left people inside the courtroom shaking their heads.
Assistant District Attorney Rachel Larsen took the lead for the prosecution Monday -- questioning the alleged victim about her relationship with her stepfather.
Mrs. Smith said Calloway was the only father she knew growing up -- that he made sure she never wanted for anything.
But by the time she was 10 years old, she said, the sexual abuse started.
Mrs. Smith testified she told her mother, Monica, about the abuse when it first started, but testified that when her mother confronted her husband about the alleged abuse, he explained it away as accidental contact.
Her mother, Mrs. Smith said, believed Calloway.
And for a while, the abuse stopped.
But it would eventually start up again and at the height of the abuse -- from ages 13 to 15 -- she and Calloway engaged in sexual activity with her as often as three times a week.
At 15, Mrs. Smith said she again summoned the courage to tell her mother what was going on.
Mrs. Calloway, she testified, responded by taking her to the Wayne County Health Department and forcing her to get on birth control.
But the woman later left Calloway, her daughter told the court -- moving Mrs. Smith and her younger sister to an apartment.
And for roughly a year, they lived away from her alleged abuser.
Ultimately, though, Mrs. Smith said her mother made the decision to move back in with Calloway because she needed help raising her other daughter -- and because she wanted to be with her husband.
Mrs. Smith said she never intended to involve the police -- but that after she completed graduate school at Appalachian State University and got married, she felt she needed to tell her family what she had gone through.
She testified about having suicidal thoughts, depression and problems with eating disorders.
In 2013, a year after moving as far away from Goldsboro as she could, Mrs. Smith said she decided to return home for a visit on what she called her "coming out tour."
During that trip home in July 2013, Mrs. Smith told her grandparents, aunt and her maternal grandmother about the abuse she had endured years earlier.
A pastor -- the one Mrs. Smith's mother had taken her to when she finally came forward at 15 -- even met with Mrs. Smith and her family for a healing prayer service where family members decided to, "Let God handle this."
Mrs. Calloway was not invited to that service.
Her daughter told the court that she did not want her mother there because for years, every time the subject of the abuse came up between Mrs. Smith and her parents, her mother said it was too shameful -- that the family would be ruined if it came out and that Mrs. Smith should "let the past be the past."
But after the service, however, an uncle heard about the abuse and mentioned it to his probation officer, Mrs. Smith said.
And since a probation officer is a mandatory reporter, meaning an officer has a duty to report any alleged crime he or she becomes aware of, the allegations made their way from the Department of Probation and Parole to the Wayne County District Attorney's Office, to the Wayne County Sheriff's Office and, ultimately, the State Bureau of Investigation.
The Goldsboro Police Department later launched an internal investigation into how Calloway conducted himself while the SBI investigation was unfolding, and Calloway was eventually terminated and indicted on the sex abuse charges.
During cross-examination, defense attorney Geoff Hulse questioned Mrs. Smith repeatedly and in varying order about the dates of the alleged abuse, her age at the time, what year it was and where the family was living when the events occurred.
The prosecution objected numerous times to Hulse repeating questions that had already been asked and answered, but Superior Court Judge Kenneth F. Crow overruled each objection saying that in a case like this he would allow a certain amount of leeway to the defense. Crow did caution Hulse a time or two to proceed carefully.
Mrs. Smith was never tripped up by the questions, however, and her testimony remained consistent.
While she was under cross-examination, Mrs. Smith kept her answers brief -- most often responding by saying, "That is correct," or "No."
The only emotion Mrs. Smith showed Monday was when she detailed her interaction with her mother concerning the abuse.
"I wanted to do whatever my mother thought was best," Mrs. Smith said. "She was my mom."