Girl Testifies In Television Star’s Case

A teen-age baby sitter who claims she had sex with TV star Kelsey Grammer testified Thursday before a grand jury investigating whether to indict him on sexual assault charges.

The girl, 15 at the time the two allegedly had sex, at first denied they had a relationship, believing they were in love, said her lawyer, John C. Esposito. But after a year of therapy, she changed her story.

Grammer, star of NBC’s “Frasier” and the psychiatrist-barfly on “Cheers,” has denied her claims, maintaining that the girl’s family is after his money.

“The case will rise and fall on the evidence in the case regardless of who he is or who she is,” Somerset County Prosecutor Nicholas Bissell said.

Grammer did not appear before the grand jury, which met for more than seven hours. Bissell said the grand jury findings will be released today.

Esposito said the girl was “composed and confidant and strong” when he saw her during a break in her testimony. He was not allowed in the courtroom.

The girl, now 17 and living in Arizona, claims she had sex with Grammer at least three times in 1993.

She was baby-sitting Grammer’s 9-year-old daughter in a Somerset Hills Hotel suite when she claims the two first had sex. She claims they had sex again at an Arizona resort.

The girl initially gave Grammer’s lawyer a statement saying the two never had sex.

“She had a sense that she was in love with him and that he was in love with her,” Esposito said, “Her reluctance to cooperate at first was simply a matter of protecting this person she was in love with.”

Prosecutors had said they might present evidence about the girl’s sexual history and alleged drug use. They must present evidence that could exonerate Grammer.

“This discussion of the victim’s reputation is simply another one in the play book of the defense,” Esposito said. “Attack the victim. Attack her family. Malign her motives.”