The four-week trial of a Gresham man charged with abusing a former family member when he lived in Bend in the early 2000s has nearly concluded.

Evidence has been presented, and jurors in the case of James Daniel “Jamie” Worley are expected to begin deliberations Friday in Deschutes County Circuit Court. Worley is accused of multiple counts of sex abuse and sodomy that allegedly occurred from 2002 to 2004, when he lived in Bend.

The family member first made the allegations in 2012, when Worley was living in Gresham and the accuser in Lane County. The accuser claimed to have suffered hundreds of instances of sexual touching and forced oral sex by Worley in every home they lived in.

The state’s last witnesses were called Thursday morning. In the afternoon, Brandi Shroyer, deputy district attorney, gave the prosecution’s closing argument.

Shroyer said by the time the alleged victim spoke to a new counselor in 2012, memories of abuse had been repressed. She said the victim here gained nothing by coming forward to report the alleged abuse. She discussed the “barriers to disclosure” faced by child victims of sex abuse that can delay reporting. These include not understanding certain behaviors are wrong, and fearing anger and abandonment by the perpetrator.

Wearing a suit and standing at 6-foot-4, Worley has been a regular, friendly presence around the Deschutes County Courthouse for nearly a month. On Thursday, Circuit Court Judge Beth Bagley’s courtroom was crowded with his supporters, who scoffed at times at descriptions of alleged abuse. His mother and father sat in the front row and tightly gripped hands.

Worley’s Portland-based attorney, Richard Cohen, spoke after Shroyer, and for more than twice as long.

He said the alleged victim here is well-practiced at the “creative re-creation of family and social history.”

“This is what (the accuser) does, takes the grain of truth and explodes it into something else,” Cohen said.

He said the accuser has had a hard life to date but was poorly served by overzealous investigators and child advocates who worked hard to support the accuser’s story rather than examining the claims objectively or positing alternate theories.

The prosecution will rebut Cohen’s closing argument Friday.

Worley lived several places after leaving Bend, most recently in Gresham. He was indicted in this case by a Deschutes County grand jury in December 2014. He was arrested at home in Gresham on a warrant.

While free on bail in early 2015, Worley was again arrested in his Gresham home, this time for additional sex abuse charges from Tillamook County. He was incarcerated on that case until his criminal trial began in Tillamook County.

At trial in 2016, a caseworker with the Oregon Department of Human Services testified to watching a video on the internet of Worley kissing a different family member and placing his hand on that person’s thigh.

Worley disputed that testimony, and a Tillamook County jury ultimately sided with him, finding him not guilty of several of the charges against him. The Tillamook County district attorney dropped the remaining charges.

He was arrested by Deschutes County officials in May 2016 for allegedly violating the conditions of his release. He was released a month later and served house arrest until April 2017.

His current trial began Feb. 22. Jurors heard from experts in forensic child interviewing, former employers, Worley and the accuser.

At least 10 jurors must agree on a verdict.

— Reporter: 541-383-0325, gandrews@bendbulletin.com