UTV
November 30, 2011
http://www.u.tv/News/Jury-sees-naked-pics-of-priest-accused/9de4002b-0444-4cf5-94b5-b5040d329589
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Naked pictures of a former priest accused of sex abuse have been shown to the jury of nine men and three women at his Belfast Crown Court trial.
The five pictures, showing the back of 53-year-old James Martin Donaghy, were put into evidence by his defence team as the third of his alleged victims completed his cross-examination.
The 29-year-old - who also trained to be a priest - had claimed that while being abused he noticed Donaghy had an indentation near his buttocks.
Donaghy, from Lady Wallace Drive in Lisburn, denies a total of 26 charges involving the alleged sex abuse and indecent assault of three males between June 1983 and December 2000, including fellow priest, Fr Patrick McCafferty.
On Wednesday, defence QC Eugene Grant suggested to the witness the mark on he had been describing near Donaghy's buttocks, "was clearly nothing cosmetic, but something permanent to his body."
Are you still sticking by that?," added the lawyer."I'm not a doctor, but yes," replied the witness.
Singling out the fourth of the five snaps, the witness said, "it appears to be just there".
Mr Grant in turn asked the man was he "suggestion that there is something in that picture".
"I can't really tell by this picture to be honest with you, but it appears to be there," he said, and marked in pen the spot where he claimed the indentation was.
He also later added: "When this occurred to me it was right up in my face, not from a distance".
Mr Grant said that following Donaghy's police interviews in February last year he was medically examined, evidence of which will be given to the court.
Mr Grant added that the report would indicate that Donaghy has "no distinguishing features or abnormalities" around his buttocks, and pointedly asked: "Are you sure you are not imagining all this stuff".
The man who earlier claimed that while he consented to some of the abuse, it was "forced free will", alleged that although he didn't want to, he was "talked into" presenting Donaghy with a watch.
The witness maintained that he had to do as he was told as "who was going to believe me" that Donaghy had abused him.
He added later that "everytime I had to do things I had to hid and bury that (the abuse) everytime".
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