The two versions of what happened between a student teacher and an 11-year-old girl alone in a Mona Shores elementary classroom are similar -- but differ at crucial points.
In the prosecutor's version, Peter Andrew Morden committed a sex crime by touching the girl for his sexual gratification, first by picking her up and pushing against her, then by rubbing her sides and back under her shirt while she sat on his lap as he worked at a computer.
In the defense version, Morden committed innocent acts that the girl misrepresented, probably under the influence of a crush on him and of embarrassment after he told her she had to get off his lap and that he couldn't have a "relationship" with her beyond teacher/student.
Morden's jury trial began Tuesday in the court of Muskegon County Circuit Judge William C. Marietti. He is charged with second-degree criminal sexual conduct with a person younger than 13. The charge carries a potential prison sentence of up to 15 years.
The alleged incident happened Feb. 2, 2006, inside the girl's classroom at Lincoln Park Elementary School. Under both versions, Morden, now 31, of Rothbury was inside the room during the lunch hour, entering grades into a laptop computer on a desk, when the girl chose to eat her lunch in the classroom alone with him.
In his opening statement to jurors, visiting Ottawa County Assistant Prosecutor Gregory J. Babbitt described a series of inappropriate touches by Morden after he let her into the classroom with him, all according to the girl's account given immediately afterward to school staff.
For the complete story, return to Mlive.com on Wednesday, or pick up a copy of Wednesday's Muskegon Chronicle.