NEW ULM — A four-day jury trial began Tuesday for a 39-year-old Hanska man accused of sexually abusing a child between Jan. 31, 1999, and Jan. 30, 2002.

Five felony counts of first and second-degree criminal sexual conduct were filed Nov. 7, 2019, in Brown County District Court against Christopher Lee Konakowitz of Hanska. The accuser told investigators she was between age four and six when the sexual abuse occurred. Konakowitz was 18-20 years old at the time, according to court documents.

A jury of seven women and five men were selected Tuesday. The trial is scheduled through Friday.

In his opening argument Wednesday, defense attorney Thomas K. Hagen of Mankato said Konakowitz denies the allegations, saying they lack a number of details and the State relies on assumptions.

Deputy Brown County Attorney Jill Jensen said the State will show beyond a reasonable doubt that Konakowitz sexually assaulted the victim three times in Hanska when she was a child.

Brown County Sheriff’s Investigator Jeremy Reed met the victim and later interviewed her regarding sexual abuse allegations on Oct. 21, 2019. The victim described the incidents during her testimony.

The victim testified she never told anyone about the sexual abuse and didn’t realize what “this stuff was until I was 12 or 13 years old.”

In addition, she testified she didn’t understand the legal definition of sexual penetration until 2019 when she emailed the Brown County Sheriff’s Office regarding her being sexually abused about 20 years earlier.

The victim’s father testified he was looking for his daughter on the day of her second sexual assault memory. He testified he looked under a boat tarp and saw his daughter and Konakowitz.

“I grabbed her, told him to never see her, or be near her again,” he said. “I don’t like to talk about it. It’s terrifying. It’s my daughter.”

Closing arguments and final jury instructions begin at 9:30 a.m. Thursday.

Fritz Busch can be emailed at fbusch@nujournal.com.