A Magnolia man charged with sexually assaulting a 4-year-old Spring girl is currently on trial in Harris County.

Lucas Coe, 28, was indicted in October 2009 on one count of Super-aggravated Sexual Assault of a Child after 4-year-old Emma Thompson’s death. He pled not guilty to the charge, said Donna Hawkins with the Harris County District Attorney’s Office.

Thompson died from abdominal trauma on June 27, 2009. At the time of her death, her body was covered with more than 80 bruises, she had a skull fracture and showed signs of sexual assault.

The jury trial is being held in the 232^nd District Court with Judge Doug Shaver presiding.

The girl’s mother, Abigail Young, was convicted in July of reckless injury to a child in connection with her daughter’s death. She received a 20 year sentence and will be eligible for parole in 5 years.

Coe was Young’s boyfriend at the time of Thompson’s death. According to court testimony, Coe, Young and Thompson all had genital herpes, a sexually-transmitted disease.

In video from the courtroom, Assistant Harris County District Attorney Tina Ansari told jurors Coe sexually assaulted Thompson before her death at Memorial Hermann Hospital-The Woodlands.

Also in courtroom video, Coe’s defense attorney, William Van Buren, told jurors Coe is not charged in Thompson’s death, but with sexual assaulting the child.

“We believe the evidence will show Emma Thompson was not sexually assaulted, period,” Van Buren said.

According to Montgomery County records, Coe pled guilty to a Driving While Intoxicated charge in 2001, Failure to Stop and Render Aid in 2003 and a DWI/ Open Container charge in 2005.

If convicted, Coe faces a range of punishment, between 25 and 99 years in prison or life, without the possibility of parole, said Hawkins.

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