Staff photo / Ed Runyan Shane Genetta, 40, of Girard, left, went on trial Tuesday in Trumbull County Common Pleas Court on eight counts of rape, other counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material and pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of gross sexual imposition. His attorney is Aaron Meikle, right.

WARREN — A young girl was the first witness Tuesday in the rape trial of Shane Genetta, 40, of Girard, accused of engaging in sex acts with her over the course of several years.

Prosecutors said the victim knows Genetta, but is not related to him. She testified that the first touching occurred when she was 6. She also testified that he bought her a Chromebook when she was 12 and he expected sexual favors in return.

Genetta is on trial on 19 charges, eight of them rape, plus counts of illegal use of a minor in nudity oriented material and pandering sexually oriented matter involving a minor and one count of gross sexual imposition.

Trumbull County Common Pleas Court Judge Cynthia Rice is presiding over the case.

Jury selection and opening statements took place in the morning and early afternoon Tuesday. The girl’s testimony took several hours.

During one part of the testimony, she described the situations that led to videos and photos of her being made. With each one, Trumbull County Assistant Prosecutor Diane Barber asked Rice for permission before she showed a small part of the video or the photo briefly to the jury. The alleged victim said she did not know the images existed right away.

She finally reported what Genetta did to her or forced her to do in May and went to the police department to report it. It led to a trip to a “hospital” where she saw a doctor, nurse and social worker and a “rape kit” was performed.

Under questioning by Barber, she explained that she would never be OK with having sex with Genetta, but she would do so because he would tell her that no one would believe her if she told anyone. Later, he threatened to kill himself if she said anything. She also feared for her safety if she said anything. She never told anyone about it until May, she said.

Under cross examination by Genetta’s attorney, Aaron Meikle, the girl was asked about a time when Genetta made her aware that he was thinking about dating someone.

Meikle quoted a message he said she sent to Genetta that said, “I don’t want to hold you back from something better. But the selfish side of me is thinking ‘How will things be different?'”

“Yes, OK,” she said.

Testimony continued Wednesday with seven witnesses, including Liberty police detectives Mike Shuster and Jeffrey Palmer, BCI agent Joann Gibb, the victim’s mother, emergency room nurse Alexandria Williams, Dr. Hermant Agarwal from Akron Children’s and Children’s Advocacy Center nurse practitioner Amanda McAllen.

Palmer’s videotaped interview with Genetta after he was first arrested was played in court on Wednesday. It lasted an hour and Genetta claimed throughout the interview that there was a romantic interest between him and the victim, and sexual intercourse never took place.

Gibb testified to the authenticity of videotaped testimony and authenticated the GPS location of Genetta’s apartment that matched encounters with the girl.

Testimony will resume at 9 a.m. today.