Friends say Ross Harris was great father who struggled with 'sexual sins'

GLYNN COUNTY, Ga. — Ross Harris’ attorneys called more witnesses to the stand Wednesday who told jurors that Harris was a loving father and was proud of his son.

• Several of Harris' co-workers and friends took the stand
• They described Harris as a loving father, who struggled with sexual sin
• Harris had confided in his church group about his pornography problems
• Harris' travel agent said Harris was planning a cruise for his family, including Cooper
• Harris' best friend said he'd been trying to help Harris with his sexual sins for years
• Court dismissed early when defense ran out of witnesses for the day

Harris is accused of killing his 22-month-old son, Cooper, by intentionally leaving him inside a hot car for nearly seven hours. He is facing eight charges, including malice murder.

Two of Harris’ good friends from high school, two friends from church and a coworker all took the stand.

Harris’ coworker, Ryan Henry, said on the day Cooper died, Harris was talking to him about planning Cooper’s birthday party. Cooper would have turned 2 in August.

Channel 2’s Ross Cavitt and Carl Willis are in Brunswick, where the trial is being held. They will have updates from inside the courtroom on Channel 2 Action News.

Henry said he spent a good amount of time with Harris at the office, but they were not friends outside of work, and he didn’t know much about Harris’ personal life. He said he never met Cooper.

Harris’ friend from church told jurors that Harris told their men’s small group that he was having a problem with pornography. Despite that, Nathaniel Coyle said he saw Harris with Cooper many times, and Harris was always a loving father.

“Most of the time Cooper, kind of, became the center of Ross’ attention when he was around,” Coyle said.

Coyle’s wife, Heather, also took the stand. She was in their small group at church but was also Harris’ travel agent.

Heather Coyle said she had spoken with Harris about planning a cruise for their family. She said Harris mentioned it to her at church once and then emailed her about it on June 17, 2014.

Michael Simmons and Billy Kirkpatrick, who both took the stand Wednesday, have known Harris since high school and were both groomsmen in his wedding to Leanna.

Simmons told jurors that he wasn’t aware of Harris’ pornography and sexting problems but said he wishes he’d known that was going on, so he could have helped Harris.

Simmons said he met Cooper for the first time in May 2014, and Harris was very proud of his son. However, Simmons agreed with prosecutors that what he's learned about Harris and his relationships with other women throughout the trial is very different than the man he knows.

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Kirkpatrick, who said he is Harris’ best friend, told jurors he was familiar with the sexual struggles Harris was facing.

Kirkpatrick said he ran a group at his church in Tuscaloosa about sexual sins and had talked with Harris about his problem with pornography.

Kirkpatrick was Harris’ accountability partner with Covenant Eyes, a software that allowed him to see the questionable websites that Harris visited.

He said among those were sites such as Adult Friend Finder, Adult Sex Finder and Ashley Madison.

He said he was disappointed in Harris’ actions, but despite that, Harris was a wonderful father and never expressed malice or hatred towards his son.

"I saw him struggle with sexual sin at the same time as I saw him being a tremendous friend to me and a tremendous father," Kirkpatrick said.

Jurors were dismissed early Wednesday when the defense ran out of witnesses for the day. Testimony will resume at 8:30 a.m. Thursday, when some experts are scheduled to testify about parents who leave kids in cars.

You can watch the entire trial LIVE on WSBTV.com/Ross-Harris-Trial. We will have minute-by-minute coverage as well as a daily summary from the courtroom each day. Like Ross Harris Updates on Facebook and follow @RossHarrisTrial on Twitter for updates throughout the trial.

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