GIRL TESTIFIES ABOUT ALLEGED ABUSE

John Stephen Bracknell, 47, is being tried on a 21-count grand jury indictment that includes counts of first-and second-degree sexual abuse and first-and second-degree sodomy.  A 15-year-old girl testified Tuesday in Lauderdale County Circuit Court that she had been sexually abused on many occasions by, Bracknell, a family member since she was 9 years old.   Witnesses testified they did not see the defendant engage in any inappropriate conduct with the girl but he did frequently take the victim with him on trips to grocery or video rental stores and that the trips took longer than would have been expected.

(Florence, Alabama)