Zimmerman Groped Woman Repeatedly Over Years, Woman Charges

George Zimmerman, the shooter of Trayvon Martin, repeatedly groped a woman, she charges. She, a family friend, said the abuse began when she was 6 and continued to when she was 16.
Key points from a New York Times story by Lizzette Alvarez:

MIAMI — An Orlando woman now in her mid-20s told investigators that George Zimmerman, who is charged with second-degree murder in the killing of Trayvon Martin, groped and touched her inappropriately over a decade, beginning when they were both young children, according to an audiotape released on Monday. Pool photo by
George Zimmerman in court last month. An Orlando woman in her 20s said that he touched her inappropriately in episodes that spanned a decade, the last time when she was 16 and he 18.
The woman, whose parents were close to the Zimmerman family, talked to investigators on March 20. Identified only as Witness 9, she said she had come forward, a decade after her last encounter with Mr. Zimmerman, because “with everything going on, I know he’s not going to be out in public.”
It is unclear how, or whether, prosecutors plan to use the allegations in their case against Mr. Zimmerman, who is free on $1 million bond.

Additional details:

The witness said that Mr. Zimmerman, who at 28 is about two years older than she is, first touched her when she was 6. She was staying in the Zimmermans’ Virginia home while her parents were moving to Orlando, Fla., from Louisiana. The woman said Mr. Zimmerman had groped her while they lay under a blanket as they watched television with a group of other children.
Other groping episodes followed, she said. She visited the family “at least once a year” and said he touched her inappropriately during some of those visits, including once behind a curtain when she was 7 or 8 and another time on a bunk bed when she was around 12.
“Before we left the room or left any place, he would say we weren’t doing anything — we were just laying there or we were just playing hide-and-seek,” said the woman, whose voice cracked as she recounted the events. “He would always make sure that he told me that. And I didn’t know. I was a kid. I didn’t know any better.”

Complete story at the New York Times.