A former Beech Bend Park employee who claims she was sexually harassed and molested by park owner Dallas Jones began testifying Tuesday at a civil trial.

Jami Summers is seeking to hold Beech Bend liable in Warren Circuit Court for what she claims were violations of her state civil rights when she “was subjected to unwelcome sexual advances and physical conduct of a sexual nature at her workplace.”

Summers worked at Beech Bend from 2001-04 as a teenager, returned to work a Christmas event in 2008 and continued working at the park until 2009. During that time, she claims Jones isolated her from other employees on several occasions to fondle her and make inappropriate remarks.

Summers said she left the park after an incident in which Jones reached down her pants. Attorneys for Beech Bend deny the allegations and claim Summers was terminated in 2009 for showing up late to work.

A jury was seated Tuesday in Warren Circuit Court to hear the case, and the trial is anticipated to last through the week.

Attorney Matt McGill, who is representing Summers, said Summers was 13 years old when she began working at the park and returned for subsequent seasonal employment because her family struggled financially and Summers had to support herself.

By 2003, Summers’ mother had filed for bankruptcy and was living on the Beech Bend campground, working there along with Summers and her grandmother, McGill said.

Summers said that when she asked Jones to stop touching her, he responded by asking her, “Do you like your job?”

“Dallas Jones had power over Jami and he reminded her of that frequently,” McGill said during his opening statement.

Summers said she returned to the park for work at the opening of each season hoping that the abuse would stop.

“I thought maybe that he would stop and find someone else to prey on and give me a break,” Summers said.

During questioning from McGill, Summers said she did not tell any park employees about the alleged misconduct. Jones’ daughter, Charlotte Gonzalez, is the park’s general manager.

“No one would have believed me. No one would have given me the time of day,” Summers said. “I just felt like I didn’t have a voice.”

McGill told jurors that a psychological evaluation of Summers conducted last year at her attorneys’ request will show that she suffers from post-traumatic stress disorder and major depressive disorder.

Representing Beech Bend, attorney David Broderick said in his opening statement that there are no witnesses or circumstantial evidence to support Summers’ allegations.

Broderick questioned why Summers would not have disclosed these incidents to her mother or grandmother when they were working at the park at the same time.

“I think if something like this were really to have happened, Jami would have told her mother or her grandmother,” Broderick said.

In a park employing about 150 people seasonally, Broderick discounted the possibility of abuse taking place repeatedly over several years unbeknownst to others.

“It is not reasonable, it is not probable, it is not likely something like this would have happened without somebody seeing it,” Broderick said. “It just didn’t happen.”

Regarding Summers’ evaluation, Broderick said the proof would show that tests used to help evaluate Summers were unreliable and the evaluator is not a licensed psychologist in Kentucky.

Summers’ testimony was interrupted Tuesday when Warren Circuit Judge John Grise adjourned court for the day.

— Follow courts reporter Justin Story on Twitter @jstorydailynews or visit bgdailynews.com.