Mass. Man Charged With Raping Children Says Accusers Are Lying

The trial of a western Massachusetts man charged with sexually assaulting three children is winding down.

A Hampshire Superior Court jury is expected to start deliberating Thursday, a day after the defendant, Leo Fugler III, of Granby, and his wife took the stand to say the three accusers fabricated their stories in part because they resented the couple for several reasons, including quarrels about money.

The Daily Hampshire Gazette reports that the 55-year-old Fugler has pleaded not guilty to eight counts of forcible child rape and three counts of indecent assault and battery on a child under 14.

Prosecutors say the alleged victims, two girls and a boy, were assaulted in South Hadley between 1995 and 1998.

The children were all known to Fugler.