By Patti Weaver
STILLWATER — A 44-year-old Stillwater man accused of sexually abusing a female relative between the ages of 12 and 13 has been ordered to appear in court on June 3 when he can seek a preliminary hearing.
If convicted of child sexual abuse, Justin Wayne Birmingham, who remains free on $50,000 bail, could be given as much as a life prison term, court records show.
The girl’s mother reported the alleged abuse to police in June of 2023, but when the 13-year-old was interviewed in July of 2023 at the Saville Center, she said “she could not see her friends until all this was over” and “she really misses her friends,” Stillwater Police Detective Mary Kellison wrote in an affidavit.
“During the forensic interview, she recanted the allegation against Justin Birmingham,” according to the affidavit.
But her brother told the interviewer that two weeks earlier, the 13-year-old “had told him it had been happening since last Christmas and she hadn’t told anyone,” the affidavit alleged.
The boy said, “Justin Birmingham would probably lie about it, and he imagined that Justin Birmingham would eventually get caught,” the affidavit alleged.
The boy said, “Justin Birmingham told him that he and the 13-year-old were wrestling around,” and his private part came out of his pants accidentally, the affidavit alleged.
The boy said, “he asked the 13-year-old if it did happen, and she told him it did. He said she told him she wished it didn’t happen because she didn’t want her life to change,” the affidavit alleged.
In October of 2023, a DHS worker said that about midnight, he was called to the girl’s home in another county “after Justin Birmingham showed up at the residence threatening them,” the affidavit alleged.
The girl said she recently had been telling her mother about Birmingham touching her inappropriately, the affidavit alleged.
“She disclosed she did not say anything in her forensic interview because Justin Birmingham told her that if she did, he would go to jail and that they would lose everything,” the affidavit alleged.
She “stated that Justin Birmingham told her not to tell her mom, her friends, (her brothers) or anyone else,” the affidavit alleged.
She said after one incident, “she did not say anything but was able to push Justin Birmingham and once he fell, she ran to the bathroom and locked the door.
“She stated Justin Birmingham came to the door and was apologizing and tried to get into the bathroom.
“She stated she turned on the shower and stayed in the bathroom crying,” until her mother arrived, the affidavit alleged.
