Douglas R. Crossley Jr., painted as an oversexed man with no boundaries by the young women who allege he touched them sexually when they were adolescents, described himself as a caring person with their best interests in mind when he took the witness stand Friday at his trial in New London Superior Court.

The 40-year-old former resident of Lisbon, who now lives with his wife and three daughters in Mechanicsville, Va., started testifying Friday afternoon. The jury of six is expected to start deliberating in the case late Monday.

Crossley is charged with groping the women when, as underage teens in 2005 to 2010, they babysat or attended parties at his home at 23 Lee Road. They testified earlier this week that he and his wife said they could help themselves to alcohol and told them about sexual threesomes in which they had participated. They said he constantly commented on their breasts and grabbed their breasts and genitals over and under their clothing.

After hearing testimony from Crossley's wife, Danay, who also is under investigation for sexual improprieties, and from two of his daughters, ages 12 and 14, Crossley started testifying under questioning by attorney Thomas A. Pavilinic. He denied any inappropriate behavior.

Crossley said when one of the teens considered dropping out of high school, he took her out to "a nice lunch" and tried to talk her out of it. When another was in a car crash, he said he comforted her by telling her that a car is basically a "2,000 pound missile, and he's surprised there aren't more accidents." When one of them came to his house pregnant at age 16, he said he was concerned about what his young daughters would think, since they had only recently been playing with the girl. He said the mother of two of the alleged victims was at the parties and allowed the girls to drink alcohol.

The jury will be deliberating on five of the six charges lodged against Crossley. The defense scored a victory on Thursday, when Judge Barbara Bailey Jongbloed dismissed a charge of second-degree sexual assault of a helpless person. One of the young woman had testified that she had been drinking alcohol when Crossley gave her Klonopin, an anti-anxiety medication, and performed a sexual act on her.

After the state finished presenting its case, the defense had moved for a judgment of acquittal, saying that the state had not proven the alleged victim was physically helpless at the time of the incident, according to Pavilinic. The judge granted the motion and dismissed the sexual assault charge.

The remaining five counts are for risk of injury to a minor.

Danay Crossley, wife of the defendant, also denied inappropriate behavior during her testimony. She described herself as a Girl Scout leader and stay-at-home mom who loved to bake birthday cakes and throw themed parties for her children. She had carefully prepared a timeline of dates and parties in an effort to show the jury there were "inconsistencies" in the testimony of the alleged victims. She said that the mother of one of the alleged victims had told the teens about threesomes in which she and her husband participated before they had children. She said the topic came up at one of the parties, and one of the teens said that she, too, had taken part in a threesome.

The victims had testified that Danay Crossley allowed them to drink. They said she told them it was "normal" for Crossley to talk about their breasts. The woman in the "Klonopin" incident and a friend who witnessed it said the wife had touched the teen sexually while her husband performed a sexual act on her and had joined her husband in telling the girl it would "make her feel good." 

The Crossleys' two daughters, very young at the time of the alleged incidents, did not add new information to the case, but confirmed some of the testimony about birthday party dates when they testified. Prosecutor Theresa Anne Ferryman did not cross-examine them, except to ask one of them about her pole-vaulting skills.

k.florin@theday.com