FALLS CHURCH, Va. (WUSA9) -- A former political leader in the city of Falls Church was on trial again Monday on new child sex abuse charges.
Michael Gardner is charged with sexually abusing a young relative who came forward after he was released from prison last year in another child sex assault case.
In a separate case, Gardner was accused of molesting a couple of young girls at his Falls Church home in 2011. At the time they were attending a birthday party sleep-over for Gardner's daughter.
Earlier this year prosecutors also alleged Gardner was trying to find someone to kill those girls, so they couldn't testify against him.
This trial is very different from his first trial, when he was free man and walked right into the courthouse every day. Now, despite his conviction in that case being reversed he's locked up without bond and facing trial on new child sex accusations from his own niece. The Virginia Supreme Court previously decided he didn't get a fair trial because his wife was not allowed to testify as a character witness about him being a great caretaker of children.
Defense attorneys representing the accused child molester Gardner were reprimanded by the judge Monday for asking potential jurors leading questions.
Gardner is a former Falls Church Democratic leader, and husband of Robin Gardner, a former Falls Church mayor and council member. He's charged with two counts of aggravated sexual battery of a child in 2009.
Those allegations were a secret until September of last year, a few months after Gardner was released from prison. He was set free after his conviction in high profile 2011 child sex assault case was reversed.
The new allegations, about prior abuse, come from Gardner's niece, who was 12 years old at the time. She is now 18 and will be testifying against her uncle.
Prosecutor Nicole Witmann told potential jurors that the niece's allegations against her uncle trickled out over time, with a full disclosure coming when she was 17.
In a transcript of a phone call between the niece's father and his twin who is Robin Gardner, Mrs. Gardner appears to believe the niece's allegations.
In the 2011 case, Gardner faces a retrial on charges he sexually assaulted a nine and 10 year old girls at his daughter's slumber party.
Opening statements could begin Tuesday. The trial is scheduled to take two weeks.
Gardner's retrial in the slumber party case is scheduled for November 30th.
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