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Girl Testifies Against Lutz Man Accused Of Lewd Conduct

By TOM BRENNAN | The Tampa Tribune

Published: January 27, 2009

TAMPA - Using her white teddy bear, an 11-year-old girl showed jurors how she straddled a man when he asked her to play the game of "horse dance."

The girl's testimony highlighted the first day of the trial of Leo Frank Terminello, a 44-year-old father of two who was arrested in January 2006.

Terminello, a pool cleaner, is charged with 11 counts of lewd and lascivious behavior. Each count carries a prison term of up to 15 years.

Terminello denies any wrongdoing.

"These things didn't happen," his attorney Thomas Maiello said during his opening statement.

The girl, who was 8 at the time, testified that she thought the "horse dance" was a video game and that she wasn't sure it was wrong at first.

"It made me feel weird," she said. "But he told me not to tell my parents."

She obeyed.

"I felt a little embarrassed and afraid," she said.

She said the incidents happened 10 to 15 times in 2005 in Terminello's Lutz home.

The girl said she finally told a friend who persuaded her to tell her mother.

During cross-examination, Maiello questioned the girl about differences in the accounts she gave in interviews with authorities and in depositions.

The girl said she was embarrassed and nervous whenever she had to recall the incidents, and couldn't remember all the specifics.

The trial continues Wednesday in Hillsborough Circuit Court.

While on bail awaiting trial, Terminello was arrested April 9 and accused of offering two girls, ages 8 and 10, $15 to watch him fondle himself.

That case is pending.

Reporter Tom Brennan can be reached at (813) 259-7698 or tbrennan@tampatrib.com.

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