Alleged Victim Says He Feels “Remorseful” For Carrier

On Thursday, a teen boy who took the stand in Joshua Carrier’s child sex abuse trial said he felt sorry for the man he was testifying against.

The boy, who was loathe to believe allegations that Carrier abused students at Horace Mann Middle School, told the court his feelings about his former wrestling coach.

“Right now, I feel very disappointed in Joshua Carrier because I looked up to him,” the boy said. “But I don’t feel he’s monster or a pedophile.”

He went on to say he feels remorse for Carrier, adding that his feelings may be due to how he was raised.

“His life, if he’s convicted for this, is over, and I just feel so remorseful for him and his family,” the boy said.

The teen was a wrestler last year at Mann Middle School, like most of the 15 other boys who have testified against Carrier so far in the trial. Only one boy did not wrestle; he knew Carrier from being on the football team.

The alleged victims have said they trusted Carrier before his arrest, and most have testified about how they liked him, but the boy who took the stand Thursday was the first to say he felt bad for Carrier.

The teen testified that Carrier touched his genitals on two occasions during a wrestling skin check. The boy defended Carrier after he was arrested, telling investigators that the skin checks were not abuse and refusing to believe that Carrier sexually assaulted students.

The boy testified that his mind changed after police showed him a picture of himself recovered from Carrier’s computer. The boy is clothed in the photo, but police said they also found images of Carrier touching the boy’s genitals.

Carrier’s attorneys pressed both a Colorado Springs police forensic interviewer and a detective who interviewed the boy, claiming they attempted to sway the boy’s opinion about Carrier.

Detective Samantha Lembergs agreed that the report of her interview with the boy’s father demonstrated that she showed the boy the picture of himself from Carrier’s computer to help him, “fall on the side of knowing the checks were wrong.”

Carrier’s attorney, Josh Tolini, questioned forensic interviewer Kelly Schiffelbein about whether she tried to put her views on the boy when she made statements to him like, “Where there’s smoke, there’s fire” and told him Carrier’s checks were regarded as inappropriate by others.

“You’re throwing your protocols out the window because you don’t like his answers,” said Tolini.

Schiffelbein denied that and pointed out she made such statements to the boy after the interview with the teen had concluded.

The 16 boys who have taken the stand have all testified that Carrier touched them inappropriately during physical exams. Carrier was a CSPD school resource officer at Mann Middle School in the 2009-2010 school year and then volunteered at the school in the 2010-2011 year. He was an assistant wrestling coach and helped with other sports teams. Carrier’s attorneys say that the exams were a routine part of his role as a coach.