Trial to hear charges of child rape at church

updated 3:31 p.m. ET Nov. 27, 2007

AMITE, La. - Tales of devil worship will not play a major role in the trial of a man accused of having sex with children during alleged occult rituals at a now-defunct church, a prosecutor said Tuesday.

Jury selection started Tuesday for the trial of Austin "Trey" Bernard III, 39, a member of Hosanna Church in Ponchatoula, who is accused of three counts of aggravated rape involving children, including a 2-year-old girl. Conviction would mean life in prison since prosecutors decided against seeking the death penalty.

Bernard is the first of seven members of the southern Louisiana church to go on trial since the allegations broke in 2005. The others are free on bail, awaiting trial.

There have been reports of satanic rituals and the killing of dogs and cats at the church.

However, there will be little mention of that at trial because devil worship is not against the law, Don Wall, an assistant district attorney in Tangipahoa Parish, told potential jurors.

"It is against the law to have sex with a child under 12," he said.

Wall also noted that there would be little or no physical evidence because so much time passed before alleged crimes were reported.

"This is not 'CSI.' There is no DNA, not a lot of physical evidence. Sometimes it is just people telling you what happened," Wall said.

Three jurors had been seated as of early afternoon from a pool of about 80 potential jurors.

The girl is not expected to testify.

State District Judge Doug Hughes said he expects the trial to last four or five days, but Bernard's lawyer, public defender Al Bensabat, said it will be difficult to get a jury in Tangipahoa Parish, where the case has drawn extensive publicity. "It's been tried in the press for two years," Bensabat said.

More from msnbc.com Ice addict heads for poles, Everest | Trek posts Daily Nightly: Tim McGraw helps neighbors in need Were you paying attention? Take our weekly quiz World Blog: China puts foot down on 'Oba Mao' T-shirts Stimulus tracker: See where millions of dollars went Move over, feds — locals try stimulus, too  On Twitter: Breaking news updates | Weird and wild

MORE FROM CRIME & COURTS

Crime & courts Section Front

Funerals held for some Fort Hood victims Obama: Congress should wait on Fort Hood Former congressman sentenced to 13 years ‘Balloon boy’ parents plead guilty Evangelist gets 175 years for child sex Lawmaker: Hasan linked to Pakistan Suspected serial killer had previous arrest Dugard suspect apologizes for ‘sexual problem’ Police: Man admits to kidnapping N.C. girl Cops: Bloody sock links Yale suspect to victim Crime & courts Section Front   Add Crime & courts headlines to your news reader: