UNION COUNTY, N.C. — A Union County mother is asking for justice for her children after detectives said they were sexually abused by a teenager.
Eyewitness News first reported on the arrest of then-16-year-old David Seth Couick in September 2011, when he was charged with 24 counts of indecent liberties and sex acts with a child.
Eighteen months later, the mother of two of his alleged victims is speaking out, frustrated by what she feels is a slow justice system and a failure to set a trial date.
"The process has been very slow," the mother said.
The mother said alleged assaults would occur in her own back yard, while Couick was playing with her son and daughter.
She said it went on for nearly two years, but said her children never confided in her because they were afraid.
"They still deal with post-traumatic stress disorder," she said.
At the time of his arrest, detectives told Channel 9 Couick confessed to the crimes.Since then, he has posted a $20,000 bond and has been released from jail, allowed to leave his home for work and when he is accompanied by a parent, according to authorities.
The mother said it didn't take long for their paths to cross.
"The time we ran into him, my daughter had an anxiety attack. She turned ghost white and started throwing up. She could not control the fear," she said.
The mother said that terror will continue until Couick is behind bars, but said no trial date has been set, despite what she said was promised by the Union County District Attorney's Office.
"They [said they] wished for it to be resolved by the end of last year. That was November 2012 when they told me that," she said.
When Eyewitness News reached out to Union County District Attorney Trey Robison, he said in a statement, "This is one of many, many serious cases pending, and we are doing our best to move it through the system as efficiently as we can."
Channel 9 was unable to contact Couick's attorney Friday because the Union County Courthouse was closed for the holiday.
Couick's next appearance in court is April 2.