Remember this face. This is Sandra Birchmore in 2014, a young teenager in the Stoughton Police Explorers program. By then, under Massachusetts law, Matthew Farwell had already raped her in April 2013 when she was 15. His own text messages confirmed this fact.
This is the child Farwell’s defense attorney told jurors had an “affair” with him.
Grooming is about trust, manipulation, power and control. Sandra believed Farwell loved her. He exploited that belief to get what he wanted.
As the trial unfolds and we debate evidence, witnesses and rulings, remember this face.
It is not the face of a girl having an "affair." It is the face of a sexually exploited child. It's the face of thousands of children who are sexually exploited every day.