NEW ULM — Defense witnesses dominated the stand Thursday in a five-day jury trial for a 39-year-old Hanska man facing two felony second-degree criminal sexual conduct charges in Brown County District Court.

Two girls, ages 11 and 12, told authorities in the fall of 2019 that Christopher L. Konakowitz molested them at a slumber party at his residence on Halloween Night four or five years earlier.

State’s witness Laura Gapske, a subject matter expert who works as a consultant to prevent violence and for restorative justice, testified that statistics show three of every seven child sexual abuse cases involve a relative and less than one-third of the children molested report it right away.

“Most child sexual abuse survivors don’t disclose until adulthood due to threats made by perpetrators or because they don’t understand it was wrong until much later,” said Gapske.

She testified that red flags of sexual abuse include bed wetting, object insertion, violence behavior, withdrawal, drinking, drug use and promiscuity.

Under cross examination, Gapske testified just 5 percent of reported cases are false positives (false disclosure without facts) and that she has never had a case of mistaken identity.

She testified that a forensic interview in which a child is allowed to tell their story in a non-threatening environment, which was done for the accusers, is just one piece of an investigation that should include other witnesses.

A defense witness, the mother of a girl who spent the night with the two girls on Halloween Night, testified she asked her daughter if there was any inappropriate touching and was told that did not happen.

Christopher Konakowitz’ wife Andrea testified the children went to bed in the guest room and she and Christopher went to their bedroom because she wanted to watch the movie “The Walking Dead.”

“I’m a very light sleeper and Christopher didn’t go to the guest room,” Andrea Konakowitz testified. “Christopher isn’t capable of molesting a girl… I would have heard him get up that night if he did.”

The girl that had the sleepover with the two girls that accused Konakowitz of molesting them testified she has “a really strong bond” with the Konakowitz family and testified she had no uncomfortable touches that night.

“It’s something I don’t believe Chris could do,” she testified.

Susan Phipps-Yonas, a clinical and forensic psychologist in Arizona and Minnesota, testified that the camera placement in the Cornerhouse forensic interviews with the children did not show the child’s faces or body language clearly.

“It means there are fewer observations made. These things can speak to a child’s emotional state. It’s a helpful aid,” Phipps-Yonas testified.

She testified that the interview with the girl that did not accuse Konakowitz included more questions about talking to others about the interview and included more follow-up questions with parents.

Phipps-Yonas testified the added questions can show what other influences are in a child’s life that can influence what they believe.

She also testified that children may be confused about what happened to them a long time ago.

Phipps-Yonas testified that delayed reporting does not mean something didn’t happen and that she has no right to say the allegations are false.

The jury trial continues at 8:30 a.m. Friday, July 30.

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