Testimony starts in Ghostbear rape trial

Havre Daily News/Lindsay Brown

Defendant Edward Harold Ghostbear listens to trial proceedings Thursday.

The trial of Edward Harold Ghostbear started in earnest Thursday, with the attorneys making opening statements and examining and cross-examining the first witnesses.

Ghostbear is accused of having sex with a young schoolgirl while staying in a homeless shelter housed in the basement of a church.

In the opening arguments, the prosecuting attorney, Broadwater County Attorney Karla Mae Bosse, said a man the alleged victim used to call her father — whom the girl's mother trusted to watch over wh...