COLDWATER, MI (WTVB) – Witness testimony has begun in the trial of Anthony Cuyler.
An 18-year-old woman gave emotional testimony as the first victim to take the stand in the trial.
The witness, who was only 11 at the time of the alleged 2019 incident, described how she and a 12-year-old friend rode bikes to Cuyler’s Union City home to return a book, only to be offered alcohol, marijuana, and methamphetamine before being sexually assaulted.
Often in tears during her testimony, she explained that her delay in reporting the abuse stemmed from a sense of shame and the fact that Cuyler was a trusted family friend.
Cuyler faces multiple severe charges, including three counts of first-degree criminal sexual conduct and delivery of methamphetamine to a minor, following a years-long international manhunt. After the initial charges were filed in 2019, Cuyler fled to Mexico and remained a fugitive until U.S. Marshals extradited him in early 2024 as part of the Michigan Attorney General’s “Operation Survivor Justice” program.
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