State rests in day two of Philhower trial

34-year-old Harold Philhower is facing a series of charges for an apparent sexual relationship he had with a thirteen- year- old girl. She was a student at the Kaizen Karate Academy where his then wife was an instructor.

The girl, her father, and the Dover Police detective who worked on the case all took the stand on Wednesday.     

One of the biggest developments from the afternoon was a video of Philhower’s interview with police that took place in the October of 2014.

At the beginning of the video, the detective asks Philhower about the allegations between him and the thirteen- year- old kissing outside of the karate school.

In the video, Philhower explains that it was all misconstrued and that he treated the victim, “like my own daughter.” When the police explained they would be searching Philhower’s phone, he flipped the script.

Philhower told the detective, “It was bad, very bad,” “I feel like a disgusting person,” and “this is going to destroy my family.”

Following the video, the young girl who is now fifteen testified. She explained that she did send nude photos of herself to Philhower after he asked for them.

She apparently sent them using Facebook on her portable Nintendo game system. She also said that he touched her breasts, private parts, and that she and Philhower kissed. All of this apparently happened outside the karate school. She also said Philhower was the one who came up the with idea to lie when they were apparently caught kissing by the karate school’s owner.

During the girl’s father’s testimony, he explained that he knew Philhower well and that they had been friends for about four years. Because the victim’s father frequently traveled for work, Philhower approached him about him and his daughter communicating by Facebook and text message so she can have someone to talk to. Apparently the messages started out nonsexual and then progressed to sexual.

Harold Philhower still hasn’t decided if he wants to testify. The judge has given him until Thursday morning at 8:30 to decide.