Michael Kennedy’s Ex-Baby-Sitter on Witness List in Skakel Trial

A woman who allegedly had a sexual relationship with the late Michael Kennedy when she was 14 will likely testify in the murder trial of Kennedy’s cousin Michael Skakel, lawyers said Wednesday.

Neither prosecutors nor defense lawyers would say why the woman would be called to testify.

Jury selection continued for a second day in the trial of Skakel, who is accused of beating Martha Moxley to death in 1975 with a golf club.

In 1997, Skakel was questioned by investigators looking into reports that Michael Kennedy had an affair with the woman when she was a 14-year-old baby-sitter for his children. Sex with a minor under 16 is statutory rape under Massachusetts law.

No charges were ever filed against Kennedy, who died later that year in a skiing accident.

A third person was seated on the jury Wednesday. After all 12 jurors and four alternates are selected, the trial is expected to take more than a month.

Moxley’s death was unsolved for years but drew renewed attention after several books were published about the case. Skakel, whose father was the brother of Ethel Kennedy, was arrested in January 2000.

If convicted, Skakel, now 41, could face life in prison.