HOUSTON – Day three of Michael McIntosh's sex assault trial was focused mostly on the lead detective in the case.
But at 4:00 p.m. Thursday afternoon, the state's star witness took the stand. She is accused of being the ring leader in the private prostitution ring.
However, the girl, now 18, who was 16 at the time, said she never forced anyone to go over to McIntosh's Friendswood home.
One of the prosecutors said, "Did you ever get some kind of cut for anything?"
The witness said, "The only time I got any money from anyone else was from one friend who gave me money for gas for driving over there."
Police say in the summer of 2013, teen girls, as many as five, would go to McIntosh's home and have sex with him in exchange for cash. Many of the girls have taken the stand this week and said they went to his home on several occasions to get money, and they walked away with thousands of dollars.
The girls said they would use the money to buy food, gas, and even car insurance. At one point, the star witness was charged with prostitution but those charges were later dropped.
The detective in this case testified Thursday that he questioned her. "I told her that from the statements that I'm getting from other involved people, that I have information that makes her a suspect of compelling prostitution. And I told her that I need to know your side of the story so I can figure out if you're a victim or if you're my suspect. I begged her to tell me the truth and not just what I wanted to hear."
The star witness is expected to be back on the stand Friday morning.
McIntosh is charged with sexual assault, and if convicted, he could face up to 20 years behind bars.Â