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10-Year-Old Testifies in Community Activist Abuse Trial

A girl who accused Falls Church community activist Michael Gardner of molesting her at a sleepover was the first to take the witness stand in his trial on Tuesday. News4's Julie Carey reports.

2nd Child Testifies in Gardner Sex Abuse Trial

A second child testified in the trial against Michael Gardner, who's accused of allegedly molesting his daughters' friends during a slumber party in Falls Church.

Prosecutors turned to a DNA expert as one of their final witnesses in their child sex abuse case against Michael Gardner on Thursday.

Gardner is a well-known Falls Church community and political activist whose wife is a councilwoman and former mayor of that city. He's accused of molesting three of his daughters' friends last June, one at a sleepover and two at a birthday slumber party the following night.

Dr. Mark Perlin, the chief scientist at the Pittsburgh-based Cybergenetics, analyzed DNA samples processed by the Virginia Department of Forensic Science. Using a highly technical presentation, he showed the jury how he matched Michael Gardner's DNA to DNA samples taken from clothing worn by two of the young accusers.

With DNA taken from one girl's underwear, Perlin found a match to Gardner is 20.7 quadrillion times more likely than a coincidental match to an unrelated Caucasian.

And with DNA taken from another child's pajamas, he found a match to Gardner is 3,000 times more probable than a match to an unrelated Caucasian.

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DNA Expert Testifies in Sex Abuse Trial