A woman who claims she was raped as a child by former DUP leader Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has given evidence at Newry Crown Court, stating she should have reported the alleged abuse earlier. The complainant, known as B, denied raising the allegations as a teenager to avoid attending a Christian center. She recounted her drug use during teenage years and described her time at the Christian Family Centre in Armoy as potentially one of the best things that happened to her. The barrister for Donaldson cross-examined her on these points, including whether she had previously disclosed the alleged rape to anyone before contacting police.
A woman who claims she was raped as a child by Sir Jeffrey Donaldson has said she should have brought the alleged abuse to police years earlier, but had “tried not to be a victim”.
Continuing to give evidence at Newry Crown Court, the woman also denied she had raised the allegations as a teenager as a way of getting out of attending a Christian centre in Co Antrim. The woman, known as complainant B, is the older of two alleged victims who have accused the former DUP leader of sexual abuse. The court has previously heard details of her claim that she was raped when of primary school age by the former politician.
Ten of the 18 sex abuse charges Donaldson denies relate to complainant B, with the offences allegedly committed between 1985 and 1991. Eleanor Donaldson, from Dublinhill Road, Dromore, Co Down, denies several charges of aiding and abetting her husband’s alleged offending. On Wednesday morning, barrister for Jeffrey Donaldson, Kieran Vaughan KC, resumed his cross-examination of complainant B at Newry Crown Court.
Mr Vaughan said that complainant B had been sent to the Christian Family Centre in Armoy after she had started to take drugs in her teenage years. She told the court that she had taken ecstasy and marijuana, but denied that she was addicted to the substances. He said: “You didn’t enjoy being taken to Armoy at that time?
”Complainant B added that she originally thought her issues could have been “dealt with at home”, but said going there “turned out probably one of the best things that ever happened to me”. The witness confirmed she had told her about alleged abuse by Donaldson, but did not go into details. When asked if she had told her about the alleged rape, the woman said she had never told anybody about that before she told police.
She responded: “No, I had friends up there … it wasn’t that in any way whatsoever. ”The barrister said she had then spoken to a pastor at the centre about the allegations. Mr Vaughan asked why her conversation with the pastor was not in her statement to police. The barrister asked her if she remembered the pastor saying he would got to the police.
The barrister asked her if she had told the pastor not to go to police, and that if he did, she would say it was “all a lie”. Complainant B added: “I should have said ‘please go, I will go with you’. ”“I didn’t want it to be made a thing of, I was so embarrassed. ”“I tried not to be the victim, I tried to build a life.
” Complainant A said she blamed herself for the later alleged abuse of the other complainant in the case. The court had previously heard complainant B state that Donaldson had met her at the Christian centre and apologised. The barrister asked her if she remembered saying during this meeting that Donaldson “hadn’t made her comfortable”. He asked her if she remembered Donaldson saying “if that was the way he made her feel, then he apologised”.
She said: “The reason why he was there was to apologise … he pushed my legs apart, that is the truth of what had happened. ”Article continues below
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