Accountant Convicted of Molesting Girl

A Van Nuys jury found James McDermott, a 34-year-old accountant, guilty Thursday of seven counts of sexually molesting a 9-year-old girl who had lived with him and his wife most of the child’s life.

McDermott, who brushed tears from his face as the jury foreman read the verdict, faces a maximum sentence of 61 years in state prison.

During the six-week-long trial, the girl, now 10, testified for four days against McDermott.

Superior Court Commissioner Alan B. Haber allowed the girl to write out many of her responses on a legal pad when questions became too embarrassing for her to answer verbally.

The girl complained of vaginal bleeding to a school nurse in September, 1983, according to police records.

After she was taken to a local hospital, physicians determined that she had been sexually molested, and on Oct. 12 police arrested McDermott. He was unable to post $15,000 bail and has remained in County Jail since his arrest.

The girl is the child of a former neighbor who gave McDermott and his wife legal custody when the child was 1 year old. Since McDermott’s arrest, the girl has lived with court-appointed foster parents.

Jury members, some of whom where crying when the verdict was read, had deliberated for four days before reaching a decision.

McDermott, of Van Nuys, who had been employed by General Design in Arleta, faces a maximum sentence of eight years on each of the seven counts, and, because of an allegation of great bodily injury, could be sentenced to an additional five-year term, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Kenneth Freeman.

McDermott will be sentenced Feb. 21.