Bessette v. State

The appellant was convicted in the court below of having made an assault upon, and of having had carnal knowledge of, Lenora Bessette, a female child under the age of twelve years.

The conviction rests wholly upon the testimony of the prosecuting witness, who was the daughter of the appellant’s brother.

It appeared that the brother and his wife had separated for some cause, undisclosed in the record, and that his wife was living, presumably in wedlock, with one LaBarge, and that her daughter, the prosecutrix, was also a member of LaBarge’s family, he assuming the relation of step-father to her.

T…