Teen charged with sexual assault of elderly neighbor represented by his mother in court

By Anne Emerson

BERKELEY COUNTY, S.C. (WCIV) — The trial of a Goose Creek teen is underway.

Aaron Capers, 19, is accused of sexually assaulting and robbing his 81-year-old neighbor at knife point.

Aaron Capers came into the courtroom with his mother at his side.

Not just as his mom, but as his defense attorney.

Sharon Capers is a Lowcountry lawyer.

Jurors heard emotional testimony from the elderly victim in this case.

She described how the teen broke into her house wearing a Halloween mask just four days before Christmas in 2017.

Once inside the victim’s home, prosecutors say Capers forced the elderly woman to perform a sex act and then stole her cash and debit card.

The victim told jurors she managed to escape through the garage, running to a neighbor’s house.

Police say surveillance footage shows Capers trying to use the victim’s debit card at a local gas station.

And the prosecution says, Capers didn’t stop there.

Berkeley County solicitor Bryan Alfaro said, “You are going to hear while it wasn’t enough to go through what she went through and for him to leave her suffering with what he did to her wasn’t enough, you are going to hear how he took the step to cover what he did by trying to have her killed.”

The prosecutor was referring to a new SLED charge that the teen tried to put a hit on “someone” while behind bars for the sexual assault. SLED has not linked that hit with the victim.

Capers’ mother and attorney told jurors that despite the picture painted in court, it was not her son.

“What you won’t see is Aaron Capers,” said Sharon Capers.

Since his arrest, Capers has been held at the Hill Finklea Detention Center.

He’ll be back in court tomorrow morning where jurors will hear new witness testimony.

Capers faces several charges: first-degree criminal sexual conduct, first-degree burglary, possession of a weapon during a violent crime, kidnapping and armed robbery with a deadly weapon.