LONDON (AP) 鈥� Jeffrey Donaldson, the former leader of Northern Ireland鈥檚 largest unionist party, was convicted Monday of involving two girls decades ago.
Donaldson, 63, was found guilty at Newry Crown Court of one count of rape, four counts of gross indecency and 13 indecent assault charges involving two girls from 1985 to 2008.
He showed no emotion as the verdicts were read or when Judge Paul Ramsey said Donaldson would face a lengthy prison sentence later in the year and had him taken to jail. A pre-sentencing hearing was scheduled for Sept. 25.
Donaldson鈥檚 arrest two years ago ended his career as one of the leading Northern Ireland voices in favor of maintaining the historic ties with the United Kingdom. He of the conservative Democratic Unionist Party, or DUP, and gave up his seat in the U.K. Parliament.
Donaldson testified 鈥� emotionally at times 鈥� over two days and denied all the allegations against him, saying he was 鈥渃rystal clear鈥� he did not rape one of the girls when she was a child decades ago.
Donaldson鈥檚 wife, Eleanor Donaldson, 60, was found to have aided and abetted her husband鈥檚 offenses for witnessing the abuse and doing nothing to intervene. Because of mental health issues, she faced only a fact-finding hearing that could not result in a conviction.
The two complainants, who said they were abused as children, testified that Donaldson groped them when they were around primary school age. The older of the two, referred to in court as Complainant B, said he raped her.
鈥淚t just didn鈥檛 happen, I am absolutely crystal clear about that,鈥� Donaldson testified. 鈥淚t is not something I would ever have done, it is just simply not true.鈥�
Complainant B said that in the 1990s, years after the abuse, Donaldson apologized 鈥渇or what had happened in the past鈥� at a meeting held at a Christian center where she had stayed while dealing with drug issues.
Donaldson testified that he had apologized for making her uncomfortable at the meeting.
Donaldson wrote a letter to Complainant A in 2020 to say he regretted 鈥渉urt, pain and distress鈥� he caused. He claimed that the letter did not refer to sex abuse allegations but other behavior.
鈥淚 know how deep the wounds are caused by my sinful and selfish actions,鈥� he wrote and said he hoped God would 鈥渓ift a sinner out of the deep pit of sin.鈥�
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