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	Court: Sex Started at 16, Claim Lynn News September 17, 2010 http://www.lynnnews.co.uk/news/local/court_sex_started_at_16_claim_1_1161702 AN ALLEGED victim of sexual abuse by a respected former pastor of Lynn Baptist Church this week denied that the first time they had sex was when she was 16. The suggestion was put to the woman, who is now in her 40s, by barrister William Carter, who is defending Malcolm ‘Mac’ Hoare, 68, of Whitefriars Road, Lynn, during his trial at Norwich Crown Court. Hoare is said to have abused his position of trust by having sex with the girl, the first being when she was 11, and sexually assaulting her on a regular basis more than 30 years ago. He has denied four charges of having sex with the girl and eight offences of indecently assaulting her over five years in the late 1970s and early 1980s, when she was a member of the congregation. Cross-examining the woman on Tuesday, Mr Carter suggested the first time she had sex with the retired pastor was when she was 16, but she denied that. He claimed Hoare had taken her to a piece of wasteland near West Lynn and that was the only time sex had occurred. Mr Carter told her Hoare’s defence was he never abused her as a child, to which she replied: “It is true, I was abused.” She said she was about 15 when she thought things were not right. “The only social outlet I had was school, apart from the church,” she said. She later told her husband about it and turned her back on the church. “I don’t know how I kept this hidden so long,” she said. The court heard of Christmas cards exchanged with the defendant and Mr Carter read out what had been written on one she sent him when she was 20: “Have a very special Christmas. I want you to be happy and joyous and always remember I think about you.” The card continued: “We have had lots of ups and downs and we shall love each other lots and lots.” It added: “Our love will always remain strong.” The woman said the abuse took place in Hoare’s car and later, when she was 15, at a shop he bought. It also happened at her home, she claimed. The complainant’s husband told the court his wife had told him what had happened when they were discussing whether there were any skeletons in the cupboard. He said: “I got the impression she trusted him so much that if he said black was white she would have believed him. He manipulated her and got what he wanted that way.” He told his wife he would back her 100 per cent with what she decided to do. He claimed his wife decided to tell Hoare how she felt and his penance was to stay clear of them.
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