A 64-YEAR-OLD man has gone on trial accused of molesting the same woman on three separate occasions almost 40 years ago.

Mervyn Duncan, of Crevenish Road, Kesh, denies three counts of indecently assaulting the woman, who cannot be named to protect her identity, on dates unknown between May 1 and September 30, 1979.

Duncan appeared in the dock at Dungannon Crown Court on Tuesday morning as the trial got underway.

Prosecuting counsel, Michael McAleer, told the jury of six men and six women that, in May 2015, the woman had contacted police to report that Mervyn Duncan had indecently assaulted her 36 years earlier.

She alleged that the incidents occurred when she was an RUC cadet on a placement at Killadeas Special Care Centre, the prosecutor told the court.

Mr. McAleer said that, on each occasion, the woman had been supervising children in the playground at lunchtime when Mr. Duncan, a member of staff at the centre at the time, had led her by the hand into an outbuilding, where each assault took place.

The woman claimed that Mr. Duncan told her that she had to be nice to him as he was writing the report on her placement.

The prosecuting barrister told the court that, in the years following the alleged assaults, the woman went on to become a serving constable in the RUC before later leaving the force due to Post Traumatic Stress Disorder (PTSD) related to her service.

It was during counselling sessions with a clinical psychologist in the early 2000s that she first revealed what had allegedly happened to her years earlier.

Then, in 2011, she came into contact with Mervyn Duncan again while she was staying with her husband at holiday apartments in Kesh owned by the RUC Benevolent Fund.

Mr. McAleer told the court that, unknown to her, the defendant worked as the manager or caretaker of the premises.

The barrister said that, when police later put the allegations to Mr. Duncan, he “quite simply and firmly” stated that he did not assault the woman as alleged.

While he admitted that he had worked at the centre, and remembered working with cadets, he said that he could not recall the complainant and insisted that the incidents “did not happen at all”.

He also stated to police that he had “no idea” she had visited the holiday apartments until he checked the records having been made aware of the allegations.

Giving evidence to the court via a video link, the woman said she had been 18 at the time of the alleged assaults, which she said all took place during the last week of June 1979, the final week of her placement.

She said that the first assault had taken her “totally by surprise” and she was “shocked” because it was something she had never done before, but added that she was “very conscious” about what he said about the report.

She described the defendant as being “calm” and said that the incident “appeared like blackmail”.

“I went along with what he asked me to do. In hindsight, I shouldn’t have,” she said.

After the third assault had occurred, the woman told the court: “At that stage I knew I was leaving Killadeas and I was glad.”

Defence counsel, John McCrudden revealed that her clinical psychologist told police that she had claimed that the man who had assaulted her at the care home was the “same man” who had assaulted her in a separate incident at Lisnaskea RUC station.

However, the woman told the court that she had subsequently given an extra statement to police clarifying that Mervyn Duncan was never involved in any incident with her in a police station.

She further alleged that the two incidents may have come up in the same counselling session, but added that she didn’t know how they “got mixed up” in the one statement from the psychologist.

Detailing the other alleged incident, which also happened when she was a cadet, the woman said that two policemen had held her down in a police car while a third had written ‘RUC’ on her breasts using a red felt tip marker.

She told the court that, at the time, there was a culture in the RUC of male officers using station stamps on the bodies of their female colleagues.

On her own alleged experiences at the local station, she said: “I think this is what they did instead of using a station stamp.”
She added: “Back in the day, men took liberties.”

The trial continues.