WICHITA FALLS ( KFDX/KJTL ) — After defendant Michael Tackitt declined to testify on his own behalf on alleged child sex crimes occurring over several years, both sides in his trial rested early Wednesday afternoon in 78th District Court.

Tackitt, 64, is accused of molesting and assaulting a girl over several years as he watched her while her mother was at work.

Defense attorneys Mark Barber and Frank Trotter told jurors there were false accusations in this case and questioned the alleged victim on her testimony. They asked why she continued texting and calling the defendant after her outcry of abuse came out.

She said no one, including her mother, wanted to believe her for a while, so she decided to continue treating him as family.

Tackitt’s sister testified that when she babysat the girl one summer, the girl and the defendant were never alone, except on some occasions when he took her to get lunch, and then they would come right back. She said the alleged victim has a bad reputation for not being truthful.

The girl’s mother testified yesterday the defendant was helping them financially before the accusations came out but stopped giving her money around 2019.

Prosecutor Dobie Kosub called her back today to clarify that he actually continued the help through 2021. The defense maintained her dates were all wrong, and she was called back to the stand to clean up her testimony from the day before.

The mother testified Tackitt told her his funds were getting low and he would not be able to help, and her daughter made the outcry a few weeks later.

The mother testified she let anger get the best of her when she found out her daughter was making the accusations. The girl testified her mother woke her up once to yell at her to quit telling lies.

Her mother testified that she messaged Tackitt and told him she had spoken to her daughter’s counselor and explained how her daughter could be mistaken about Tackitt’s actions.

For example, he might have been trying to stabilize her to keep her from falling instead of touching her inappropriately. She said she invited him to come to a counseling session so both sides could be heard.

Closing arguments and deliberation should begin Thursday morning.

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