The chore list

One of the exhibits in the trial is a hand-written list of chores that Jeremiah Lovato’s adopted son was supposed to do around the house. Some are in Lovato’s hand-writing, the boy said. Others he wrote down himself. Some of the chores are items such as:

Clean my room

Empty washer/dryer

Take a shower

Wash clothes

Clean bathroom

Wash truck/car

Dust house and furniture

Not all the chores were household items. For example, at the top of the list was an entry that read:

Read before bed out loud

At the bottom of the list, the boy had scribbled a note from his biology class. It read:

“Learning – the process in which an organism changes its behavior from making mistakes.”

Under questioning by Chief Deputy District Attorney Diana May, the boy said he didn’t mind doing chores.

“I was OK with helping out,” he testified. “but this was just overwhelming.” He added that it was difficult to do all the chores as well as his homework from school.

The apology notes

Prosecutors have also introduced into evidence several letters the boy wrote in which he apologizes for bad behavior.

Most of these were written when he and Lovato were sharing a small apartment in Craig, he said.

Almost all of them were based on what Lovato told him to write, the boy said.

“When would you write these?” May asked.

“When ever he told me to,” the boy replied.

May asked about one letter in particular.

In it, the boy wrote: “NO BLOCKING. Put my hands down because I only get what I deserve.”

“And I have to trust you,” the boy added.

The adoption woman

While father and son lived in Craig, the boy testified that a woman from the adoption service that paired Lovato and the boy would make monthly visits to see how they were doing.

At one point, the boy said she took him aside and asked how he had gotten some bruises she had observed.

“I used whatever excuse Jeremiah had made up for me to tell people,” the boy testified.

Later he added, “Jeremiah was always around when she was speaking to me,”

May asked, “Did you feel you could confide in her?”

“Somewhat, yes,” the boy replied. “But I was afraid to.”

What’s next

The trial resumes at 8:45 a.m. Friday when May is expected to continue her questioning of the boy.

Then Lovato’s defense attorney Shimon Kohn will have an opportunity to cross-examine him.

Stay tuned to the Sidebar blog for details.

A 15-year-old boy is testifying this afternoon about beatings he suffered at the hands of his adopted father for three years.

The boy said the beatings started in January 2007 about two weeks after Jeremiah Lovato, a 40-year-old Colorado Department of Transportation worker, brought the youngster from Oklahoma to live in his apartment in Craig, Colo.

They continued after the father and son moved to Lovato’s home in El Paso County, the youngster said.

Chief Deputy District Attorney Diana May asked the boy about threats Lovato had made during this period.

“I can remember one particular threat,” the boy said calmly as he sat swiveling in the witness chair. “He (Lovato) said if he ever ends up going to prison because of me that when he comes out, he’s going to come looking for me.”

The boy’s testimony came during a trial in which Lovato is accused of 24 counts including child abuse, assault and sexual assault. The last charge stems from an allegation that he stomped on the boy’s testicles.

The Gazette, which does not normally identify alleged sex assault victims, is withholding the boy’s identity.

Stay tuned to gazette.com for the complete story later today.

Know of a court story I ought to be covering? Let me know. My e-mail: john.ensslin@gazette.com