Former officer denies sexual assault
By John Joyce
Published in News on March 5, 2015 1:46 PM
Chad Calloway
At times, Chad Calloway became agitated -- challenging the assistant district attorney who, on behalf of the state, is trying to convince a Wayne County jury that he sexually assaulted his teenage stepdaughter.
But the former Goldsboro police captain did not waver Wednesday as he testified that Diamond Coley Smith -- and other witnesses who took the stand during the prosecution's case -- were lying.
Calloway took the stand in Wayne County Superior Court to deny allegations that he sexually abused his stepdaughter from the time she was 9 or 10 years old until she was 15.
The former Goldsboro Police Department officer is charged with two counts each of statutory rape of a person, 13, 14 or 15 years old by a person six or more years older, indecent liberties with a minor and statutory rape by a person in a parental role.
But he told the court that he never touched the girl he raised as his own daughter -- and that their relationship became strained only after he and the girl's mother told her she could not date.
Earlier in the trial, Mrs. Smith said that when she first told her mother about the abuse Calloway allegedly subjected her to, they locked themselves in a walk-in closet in one of the bedrooms of the family home and that Calloway kicked the door down.
When defense attorney Geoff Hulse asked Calloway to give his version of that event, he denied kicking down the door, but admitted that he did have to replace the door because it became damaged as a result of his banging on it.
During cross-examination, Assistant District Attorney Kimberly Overton asked the defendant questions about the training he received as a Goldsboro police officer -- specifically interrogation techniques and testifying in court.
"I don't even remember it," Calloway said. "I don't think much of it."
Mrs. Overton asked if during his law enforcement career Calloway was ever able to convince a suspect to do things he or she might not have initially wanted to, such as come into the police department or confess to a crime.
"No. If they didn't want to come in, believe they weren't coming," he said. "They don't just come in and don't want to. Who does that?"
Calloway became agitated when the prosecutor's line of questioning shifted to two separate photos of his body -- one taken by the SBI and another taken by a professional photographer hired by Hulse -- that respectively show and do not show markings previously identified in court by Mrs. Smith.
"You are not going to back me into saying something I don't want to say and that is not the truth," he said. "That's where the problem comes from. There you go, that's what you do."
And when Mrs. Overton concluded by asking Calloway if it was his testimony that Mrs. Smith made up the allegations against him because of an incident with a boy in high school more than 12 years ago, he, again, got combative.
"That was not my testimony," Calloway said. "See. There you go. My testimony was that's what was said back then."
The defense was expected to continue its case this morning.