Did 'magical third party' put child porn on Colts Neck coach's computer? Jury to decide

FREEHOLD - An assistant Monmouth County prosecutor Tuesday posed this query to a jury:

"Who among you keeps a video of themselves having sex with a woman on a computer that's not theirs?''

The rhetorical question was asked by Assistant Prosecutor Ryan Lavender in response to arguments from Colts Neck youth tennis instructor Terry Kuo's lawyer that his client had nothing to do with the numerous pornographic photos of an underaged student found on a computer seized from someone else's apartment.

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Kuo's attorney, Joshua Nahum, told the jury many people had access to Kuo's electronic devices, and the computer on which the porn was located was seized from the Jersey City apartment of the boyfriend of Kuo's sister, who was never questioned about the pornography.

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"You heard no testimony about how that device came to be in Jersey City," Nahum told the jury.

Lavender, however, said there was no evidence of any activity on that computer after Kuo was arrested in November 2017 and taken to the Monmouth County Jail, where he has remained since.

Days after his arrest, Kuo instructed his father, in a recorded phone call from the jail, to open a secret compartment in a safe in his bedroom and get rid of the items inside, specifically the silver MacBook Pro computer on which the pornography was located, Lavender said.

"Those items were later discovered at his sister's residence in Jersey City, and evidence related to (the underaged tennis student) was located on that device," Lavender said.

'How to Practice Child Love'

In addition, a video of Kuo having sex with a woman was discovered on that computer, as well as evidence that a document titled "How to Practice Child Love" had once been downloaded to it, Lavender said.

Voluminous other material on that computer tied it to Kuo, the assistant prosecutor said.

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The two attorneys made their opposing points to the jury at the end of Kuo's six-day trial before Superior Court Judge Jill Grace O'Malley.

Kuo, 32, is accused of sexually assaulting and taking pornographic photographs of one of his tennis students in 2016 and 2017, when she was 12 and 13.

His accuser, now 19, sat in the front row of the courtroom gallery for the closing arguments.

Kuo is charged with kidnapping, aggravated sexual assault, sexual assault, aggravated criminal sexual contact, causing or permitting a child to engage in pornography, manufacturing child pornography, possessing child pornography, obscenity, endangering the welfare of a child and conspiring to tamper with evidence.

Kuo stood trial on the same charges over the summer, but O'Malley declared a mistrial after that jury deliberated for more than a week without reaching a unanimous verdict.

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It was the second mistrial in the case. Superior Court Judge Joseph W. Oxley declared a mistrial in February before any testimony was taken, after Kuo urinated in the courtroom in front of a panel of prospective jurors during jury selection.

'Her world was upside down'

In his summation at this trial, Lavender argued that Kuo took advantage of his student when she was going through a difficult period in her life. Her father had just gone to prison, her older brother was in college and her mother was working full-time in Brooklyn to support the family.

Taking cues from the "How to Practice Child Love" manual found on his computer, Kuo looked for a child who was sad and lonely and groomed her by showering her with cash, gift cards and expensive presents, including iPhones, Tiffany jewelry and a Louis Vuitton handbag, he said.

What Colts Neck coach texted child: 'Expensive gifts for all the girlies who show me some love'

"Her world was upside down at that time, and she's being exploited and taken advantage of by her tennis coach," Lavender said.

Nahum said Kuo gave lavish gifts not only to the girl, but to the child's brother and to his own employees. The defense attorney said the child asked for the gifts, and Kuo gave them to her with her mother's knowledge.

"Mr. Kuo was attempting to help out with the life of a child going through a difficult time," Nahum said.

During the trial, the accuser testified that Kuo would give her money, gift cards and presents in exchange for letting him molest and photograph her.

"It got her to a place where she wanted those things to continue and she believed, based on what Mr. Kuo did and said to her, that if anybody found out what was going on, that she was going to get in trouble," Lavender said.

The accuser testified that had she known at age 12 and 13 what she knows now, she would have made better decisions, including telling her mother about the situation sooner.

Nahum argued that the accuser's version of events didn't make sense. Her timeline of events on the night some of the pornographic photos were taken contradicts the time stamps on the photos, he said.

"That testimony, while not whole in her memory, is supported by the evidence that was shown to you during the course of this trial," Lavender countered. "The photos support the testimony,  and the testimony supports the photos."

Lavender addressed Kuo's claim that he was in Brooklyn, New York, when pornographic photos of the girl were taken at the Marlboro Swim Club. He mentioned a series of text messages between the two that night in which Kuo indicated he was on his way to pick up the girl.

Then, the text messages stopped "because they were together, and the photographs support that," Lavender said.

An hour and 47 minutes after the last photograph was taken of the girl, nude in the back seat of Kuo's Mercedes Benz, Kuo sent her a text message with a photo of him holding cash in a car, Lavender said. Kuo claimed that photo proved he was in Brooklyn.

The girl's response when he sent that photo wasn't "Where are you?" or "Why didn't you come get me?" Lavender noted.

"She said, 'Give me,' referring to the money he had in his hands," the assistant prosecutor said. "That's consistent with what he's been doing to her to take these kind of photos."

'Many people had access to devices'

Nahum asserted the state did not investigate the possibility that someone else took the photos.

"Mr. Kuo gave you his version of events; he explained that many people had access to devices in this case," Nahum said.

"Mr. Kuo wants to allege that there's some magical third party who came and planted these items on these devices, but who had access to his vehicle, to his house, to his cellphones, to his iCloud accounts and to his computers?" Lavender asked. "It's him, that's who.

"The evidence supports her version," Lavender said. "His version is supported by nothing other than what he said."

The evidence includes photographs of Kuo's left hand, showing a scar on top and a distinctive freckle on the side of his pinky, Lavender noted.

The prosecutor asserted that those same features are visible on a hand seen on the child's bare buttocks in one of the pornographic photos.

"That's Mr. Kuo's hand," he said. "You can't get away from that."

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The jury began its deliberations about 2:30 p.m. and left at 5:45 p.m. without reaching a verdict, but not before sending a note to the judge asking for clarification on one of the elements that must be proven for a conviction on some of the charges.

That element, as alleged by the state, is that Kuo had supervisory or disciplinary power over the girl when he sexually assaulted her.

'Mr. Kuo, why are you smelling paper?'

With the jury gone for the day, the judge read her proposed explanation to the attorneys and Kuo.

When she was finished, the judge turned to the defendant and asked, "Mr. Kuo, why are you smelling paper?"

Kuo, indeed, had lifted some paper from the defense table up to his nose.

"Some of the paper smells of fecal matter," he responded, telling the judge that he threw up earlier in the morning.

"I just want to make sure what I bring back doesn't have fecal matter on it," Kuo said.

As sheriff's officers were preparing to remove Kuo from the courtroom, he said, "I'm going to leave this one here," referring to the piece of paper he had just smelled.

He explained it had the odor of material that was recycled with fecal matter and not properly cleaned.

The jury of six men and six women weighing Kuo's fate is scheduled to return Wednesday morning to resume deliberations.

Kathleen Hopkins, a reporter in New Jersey since 1985, covers crime, court cases, legal issues and just about every major murder trial to hit Monmouth and Ocean counties. Contact her at khopkins@app.com.

This article originally appeared on Asbury Park Press: Colt Neck coach's fate again rests with jury in child sex case