The prosecution presented a damning piece of evidence – a hot pink laptop – in its case against 21-year-old alleged child rapist Christina Regusters today.
The former day care worker is accused of kidnapping a 5-year-old Philadelphia girl from her kindergarten class at Bryant Elementary School on Jan. 14, 2013. Police allege Regusters walked the child through her Cobbs Creek neigborhood wearing Muslim garb then raped her with a sharp object inside her residence at 6243 Walton Avenue.
The prosecution introduced more circumstantial evidence that the jury will need to sort through.
FBI agent Michael Moore testified that the laptop belonging to Regusters was used to surf the Internet for topics such as Muslim garb, rape, DNA, finger printing and child pornography.
Moore stated the laptop was not password protected so anyone who had access to the laptop could have used it. Moore also said he was unable to determine the location of where the laptop was used.
On January 12, two days before the crime, 95 Internet searches were conducted on the laptop for Muslim garb and clothing. However, Moore testified that he saw no evidence that a purchase was made from any of the searches and websites.
On the day of the crime, pornographic searches via the guest login were found on the laptop using the search term “lolitas” and by visiting the website doublepimp.com.
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Two days after the crime, numerous searches from the same laptop belonging to Regusters revealed a search for Kim Kardashian, Macy's clothes, 'after you are fingerprinted what happens' and 'what to do if you’ve been raped.'
The victim's photograph -- the same image of the kindergartener on the missing child poster -- was recovered from the computer as well as two images of a woman in Muslim garb.
Someone deleted the salacious searches and images on the laptop, but Moore was able to uncover them during his digital investigation.
The child was left underneath an Upper Darby swing set wearing only a black T-shirt after she was brutally sexually assaulted with a sharp object, causing severe injuries to her rectum that required multiple surgeries.
Police say Regusters committed the crimes alone and she has been the only one charged in the case.
Detective John Taggart testified today that just last month he walked to and from Walton Avenue and to the park to test how long the walk might take. He said it took him about 10 minutes although he didn't videotape the walk.
Prosecutor Erin O'Brien said she will call the prosecution's last witness tomorrow and defense attorney Fred Harrison Jr. said he expects that he be in done in less than a day and to expect closing arguments to begin Wednesday.
Prior to the start of the trial, Harrison said he would likely call Regusters to the stand in her own defense, however, he has not indicated if he will in fact do so.
Contact Sarah Glover at 610-668-5580, sarah.glover@nbcuni.com or follow @skyphoto on Twitter.
