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Witnesses question wife’s character in Flint child-porn trial

CAITLIN ROW
summit daily news

Editor’s Note: Child pornography charges were eventually dismissed.

BRECKENRIDGE – Dennis Flint’s trial resumed Monday, with defense calling witnesses to testify on Flint’s behalf. The former Summit County health care CEO is charged with two felonies regarding child-pornography possession, and his trial started June 21.

Eight witnesses were called to testify either to the credibility of Dawn Flint and her testimony against her ex-husband, or to establish an alibi for Flint on dates in July 2006, when he is alleged to have accessed the porn on his computer. Another witness from out-of-town is expected to testify for the defense today.



Monday’s character witnesses included former roommates and/or co-workers of both Flints, and all said they were friends of the defendant. Their testimonies suggested Dawn Flint wasn’t an honest person, with one witness saying she was “bitter” and “spiteful.”

Other testimonies surrounded the birthday party of one of the witnesses on July 21, 2006 – a specific date in question regarding Flint’s computer use. It’s said Flint was present throughout the afternoon and evening, celebrating with friends, and then he spent the night in Frisco.



Previous reports in the case say evidence shows Flint to be the only person home during the time period in question, as Dawn Flint and their children were out of town. It was also said at earlier hearings that there’s no evidence showing the computer was moved from Flint’s home or anywhere else.

The trial will resume today at 8:30 a.m., with testimony from Dennis Flint possible but not confirmed. Dawn Flint testified last week. The tentative date for a verdict is set for Wednesday.

Flint’s child-porn case goes back several years, as the FBI seized two computers from Flint’s Blue River residence in July, 2006. Finding no proof of an “immediate interstate nexus” that would have resulted in federal charges, the FBI turned the case over to the local authorities, and Flint was arrested in March of 2009.

Evidence against Flint was collected by a spyware program, Spector Pro, which was installed by his now ex-wife Dawn Flint on a personal computer. The program recorded screenshots of child pornography every few seconds on two different dates in July, 2006.

Graphic, sexual images of children as young as 6 were shown last week to jurors as part of evidence from the prosecution in the trial. Public defender Dana Christiansen said last week there was “nothing to confirm” Dennis Flint was on the computer beyond his ex-wife’s testimony, and asked for the case be thrown out for lack of direct evidence. Chief District Judge Terry Ruckriegle denied this request.

In a separate case, Flint faces misdemeanor charges of child abuse involving his daughter. A trial in that case is expected to proceed later this summer.

SDN reporter Robert Allen contributed to this article. SDN reporter Caitlin Row can be reached at (970) 668-4633 or at crow@summitdaily.com.


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