Tensions Flare in Trial of Former Teacher Accused of Molesting 14 Children

PHOENIX - Attorneys exchanged heated remarks on Tuesday in the trial of a Peoria teacher accused of molesting 14 children.

The remarks came as Deputy County Attorney Samantha Hardt sought to share a forensic interview conducted with one of the alleged victims. According to court documents, the interview consists of an alleged victim claiming that the defendant, Ricky Ordway, put his hands down the victim’s pants and touched her legs and genitals on two separate occasions while in class.

Hardt intended to show the jury portions of the forensic interview to demonstrate that the victim had made statements which were consistent with the victim’s testimony in court.

Hardt also wanted to show the demeanor of the victim, and to refute claims made by the defense that the victim was fabricating the story to bolster an ongoing civil suit against Ordway. The civil suit against Ordway and the Peoria Unified School district is seeking $25 million in damages for the victims. Hardt said her team had already redacted much of the interview, including a section of the interview where the child spoke about things said about Ordway by other students.

The defense, led by Josephine Hallam, objected to this claiming that the victim fabricated the story, as well as claiming the interview still contained hearsay.

“There is a statement about [Victim G] saying ‘You can’t force me,’ so clearly not all hearsay has been removed.” said Hallam.

Judge Jeffrey Rueter was given a transcript of the interview, which he reviewed after calling a break in the proceedings. During this break, the county attorney and the defense team bickered over the defense’s delay in reviewing the interview, which Hardt sent on Friday afternoon.

“I understand you all have stuff to do, but we work weekends… We’re trying to get this case done, and this is all last minute.” said Hardt.

After the judge returned, he noted which parts of the interview still needed to be redacted. With these new redactions, the viewing of the interview was pushed back to Thursday morning.

The victim in the interview, Victim A, was the first to come forward with allegations against Ordway in May 2019. Her interview was conducted on May 13, 2019, shortly after she first spoke with the school principal, and before any civil suit was filed against Ordway or the school district.

Since then, 13 other victims have come forward with allegations against Ordway.

Ordway was a computer science teacher at Sun Valley Elementary School in Peoria until 2019, when allegations of sexual misconduct came to light.

Ordway, 47, now faces 34 felony counts of child molestation, attempted child molestation and aggravated assault against 14 separate victims.

The victims say that Ordway inappropriately touched them in 2018 and 2019, with some allegations dating as far back as 2010.

Later in the day, Hardt called Dr. Wendy Dutton, a forensic interviewer with Phoenix Children’s Hospital, to testify in front of the jury.

Dutton served as a blind expert witness in the case, explaining the process of forensic interviewing, as well as the psychology of performing interviews with victims of child sexual abuse.

On cross-examination, Hallam asked Dutton a series of questions about how interviewers determine the truthfulness of claims made by children in forensic interviews.

“As a forensic interviewer, it’s not my role to determine whether or not the child is telling the truth.” Dutton said. “That’s up to you members of the jury to decide.”

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