Parsippany music producer guilty of child sex abuse

The owner of a music production and engineering studio in Lake Hiawatha was found guilty Tuesday of sexually assaulting a child -- who was led to believe she and her molester were “soulmates” -- over a nine-year period when she was between the ages of 7 and 16.

A Morris County jury that heard the two-week trial of Guy Parker, 58, deliberated two hours before finding him guilty of 13 counts, a combination of aggravated sexual assault and sexual assault charges. The jury found that the victim, now 36, was sexually abused by Parker in Mount Olive between 1986 and 1995 when he was acquainted with her family.

Superior Court Judge Salem Vincent Ahto, sitting in Morristown, revoked Parker’s $300,000 bail and remanded him to the Morris County jail to await sentencing, tentatively set for Sept. 3. Parker faces decades in prison for conviction on the first and second-degree charges.

Before deliberating Tuesday, jurors heard closing arguments from Assistant Prosecutor LaJuan Tucker, who tried the case with Assistant Prosecutor Jenna Gouck, and defense lawyer Paul Casteleiro.

Tucker played for jurors the recording of a telephone conversation that the victim had with Parker in 2009, right before he was charged. The woman had occasional contact with Parker over the years but went to police when she became concerned he might sexually abuse another female child.

On the recording, the victim emotionally tells Parker that she never experienced as an adult the kind of sexual arousal and love she felt when they were sexually involved. The victim specifically referred to herself as between the ages of 8 and 16 when speaking by phone to Parker.

“I never felt that kind of love again,” the woman told Parker in the telephone conversation.

“It’s a drag, you can’t replicate that. You can’t go back again,” he replied. He agreed with her description of them as “soulmates.” He told her he still felt that way and called their past relationship “a white-hot thing.”

The victim testified, and the jury agreed, that Parker sexually abused her in three locations between 1986 and 1995.

Casteleiro, the defense lawyer, told jurors in his closing that the woman had years to come forward and report abuse but didn’t, until she became disillusioned with the course of her life and marriage.

“She’s clearly jealous and vengeful. She wants to destroy him,” Casteleiro said. ”She’s not doing it with a gun, she’s doing it with the criminal justice system. She’s been obsessed with him and that obsession has led to this courtroom.”

Tucker argued that the victim was fully credible and her accounts of having her breasts bound with Velcro and being asked by Parker to try on various bras were corroborated by items found in his studio. Investigators found Velcro straps and a bra at the studio that the victim said were not exactly like the items Parker used on her, but similar.

“If it’s a set-up, doesn’t it make more sense for her to say ‘That’s it?’” Tucker said.

Tucker said the victim is not vengeful, and referred to her testimony in which she said she still loved Parker and had viewed him as a father figure growing up.

Casteleiro repeatedly asked jurors to find that the victim was lying, and he noted that investigators examined six computers owned by Parker and not one fragment of child pornography was found on those machines.

The victim was present for the verdict, surrounded by members of the Morris County Prosecutor’s Office. Parker’s wife also was present and burst into tears when her husband was handcuffed and escorted from the courtroom.

Staff Writer Peggy Wright: 973-267-1142; pwright@GannettNJ.com.