The trial of a Powder Springs man continued in Polk County with the testimony of a forensic interviewer responsible for questioning the child about the alleged incident.

Christopher Ray Aldridge, 46, of 5690 Brown Rd, Powder Springs, is charged with sexual battery of a child under the age of 16 and child molestation.

He is accused of inappropriately touching a 9-year-old female relative.

Nicole Blalock, who was an interviewer at Harbor House in Rome from the alleged incident in October 2007, testified about her work experience and how she determines if a child’s statements were truthful.

Blalock said she saw no “red flags” in the child’s testimony indicating she had been coached or was subject to suggestion by others.

The prosecution showed the videotape of the child’s testimony. The girl told Blalock the explanations given by Aldridge after the incident didn’t make sense based on what happened.

She also said she told another relative about the incident the next day.

Aldridge’s defense attorney pointed out in her questioning that the case had been previously closed after the initial investigation for lack of evidence.

The father of the reported victim of child molestation took the stand Tuesday to testify what his daughter told him about the incident.

Aldridge, who worked in Cedartown at the time, was arrested in 2009 on charges stemming from an alleged incident.

The father said he believes his daughter to this day.

“I stand behind what my daughter said and I will not waiver on that fact,” he said.

He said his daughter “loved that group,” in reference to the Aldridge family, and said they had been helpful to his family in past struggles. He said he was best friends with Aldridge and had hoped the whole thing was a misunderstanding.

“I wanted it to be a misunderstanding,” he said, when asked by the defense attorney about whether he questioned his daughter’s statements immediately after the alleged incident.

“This hurts us. This hurts him and his family. Believe it or not, these are people we love.”

The father said he believed his daughter because she was not prone to lying. He also said he became more convinced her version of events was accurate as more details came in the investigation.

“The story changed,” he said speaking of Aldridge’s explanations. “That’s when I started losing my train of thought and got upset.”