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P was born in 1960. When she was four years old, her parents, Verle and Deon, were divorced, and her custody was awarded to her mother. Deon was at that time employed by the Hercules Powder Company as the secretary for D, an official of that company. This continued until 1969 when they were married. Shortly thereafter, d was transferred by his company to Cumberland, Maryland, and the parties moved there. In 1974, D adopted P. P lived as a member of the family until January 1977, when she left the home to reside with her grandparents. D took advantage of his parental role and of the girl's love and concern for her mother to engage in activities with her, resulting in sexual and psychological abuse and terror, which caused her serious and permanent injury. It began when P was nine years old. D had intercourse with her intermittently. D constantly issued warnings of secrecy and threats of dire consequences to her mother and the family if P should tell anybody. P lived in fear of violence if she refused to submit to D's desires, and that the reason she did not tell her mother what was happening was that, 'I was scared, and I didn't want to hurt my mother . . . . He told me it would hurt my mother and we would be split up.' P suffered severe headaches, abdominal pain, nausea, and vomiting, for which reasons she was hospitalized twice. At 16, she managed to escape to live with her grandfather. The testimony of Dr. Richard C. Ferry, a psychiatrist who has extensively examined and treated P, was presented. D was convicted and appealed. D claims that the trial court failed to instruct the jury correctly on consent as a defense. D claims that P consented to the sexual conduct.

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