Girl, 11, testifies in Rosendo 'Rusty' Torres molestation case

One of the school girls accusing former Yankees outfielder Rosendo Torres of child molestation told a jury Monday he exposed himself to her and asked her to inappropriately touch him during a baseball lesson at her private Plainview school.

The girl, then an 8-year-old third grader, testified that Torres -- a youth baseball coach for the Town of Oyster Bay -- also thrust his genital area into hers on three occasions in 2012 while she used pullup bars, in what the victim described as "bumping."

The girl, now 11, who Newsday is not naming because she is an alleged victim of sexual abuse, fidgeted with a small yellow star toy as she testified for about three hours in Nassau County Court that Torres bumped her "a whole bunch of times."

Torres, 65, of Massapequa, who is known as "Rusty," was arrested in May 2012 and indicted in January 2013 on seven counts of first-degree sexual abuse and one count of a "course of sexual conduct against a child" in the second degree, according to court records.

During cross-examination, defense attorney Troy A. Smith attempted to point out what he called "inconsistencies" regarding the location of the inappropriate touching.

The girl testified Monday that Torres made her touch him and exposed himself to her in his van. Smith said that she didn't specify where she touched him and where Torres exposed himself in her grand jury testimony.

Assistant District Attorney D.J. Rosenbaum objected, telling the judge Smith's characterizations were "disingenuous." Judge Tammy S. Robbins, called the cross-examination "fair" but told Smith, "You need to be clearer. . . . Ask her about what she meant."

The initial act took place on April 16, 2012, during her first class with Torres, prosecutors said. The victim testified that she didn't tell him to stop because she was "nervous" and "wasn't sure what he was doing was wrong." On May 7, 2012 -- her last session, two days before her ninth birthday -- she told Torres she felt "uncomfortable," Rosenbaum said, and the victim told her mother that day.

Torres declined to comment outside the courtroom, but his lawyer said that Torres felt "a great deal of compassion" for what "the child had to go through" while testifying.

Torres' second alleged victim is scheduled to testify Tuesday. The acts against her took place between October 2008, when she was in kindergarten, and May 2012, prosecutors said.