Thursday, Jan. 25, 2001 | 6:53 a.m.
MINDEN, Nev. - The son of accused child killer Thomas Soria Sr. related years of sexual abuse by his father and explained that after he'd grown older, the man's sexual preferences turned to young women and occasionally gay men.
But Thomas Soria Jr., 20, at times choking back tears, said he loved his father and didn't know as a child that having sex with him was wrong.
"I loved him very much," he said, his lip quivering as he looked at his father across the courtroom. "I guess I felt that he cared about me."
The younger Soria, known as "T.J.," testified Thursday outside the presence of the jury that will decide if his father is guilty of the kidnap, rape and murder of 9-year-old Krystal Steadman.
The little girl disappeared last March from a Lake Tahoe apartment complex where the Sorias lived. Her body was found the next day down an embankment along U.S. 50. Her throat had been slashed.
Soria Sr., 39, faces a possible death sentence if convicted.
Douglas District Judge David Gamble said he will rule Friday before lawyers give opening statements on how much of the son's testimony will be allowed during his father's trial.
The younger Soria pleaded guilty to kidnapping and murder in the case to avoid the death penalty. He admitted to luring Krystal to the Soria family's apartment at his father's request and disposing of the little girl's body.
Defense lawyers contend Soria Jr., not their client, killed the girl.
Deputy District Attorney Kris Brown argued jurors need to hear how the younger Soria was abused by his father so they understand how he came to blindly follow his father's orders and the role he played in Krystal's killing.
"It needs to be brought out in order to understand T.J.'s involvement in the crime," Brown argued.
But John Springgate, one of Soria Sr.'s defense lawyers, argued the testimony was highly inflammatory and amounted to "salacious gossip."
It "has nothing to do with my client's mental state and my client's actions in this case," Springgate argued.
"It may prove why Mr. Soria Jr. is a monster, but that's a question for another day," he said.
Under questioning from Brown, T.J. Soria said he remembers having sex with his father since he was about 6, sometimes several times a week. The encounters, he said, involved penetration, licking and sometimes the eating of feces.
When Soria Jr. entered high school, he said their sexual encounters became less frequent and his father asked him to introduce him to teen-age girls and refer to him as his uncle.
Springgate questioned why the younger Soria never told anyone of the alleged abuse and suggested he concocted the allegations to avoid the death penalty.
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