Webster promised teen ‘everything’ if elected
(CNS): The teenage girl who claims Errington Webster (54) sexually assaulted her when she was just 13 years old told a jury that he had promised her “everything” once he got elected to office. After the jury was shown the video statements the girl gave when the accusations were first made to the police, she said, giving evidence via video link, that he told her he would pay for her college schooling and get her a house and a car, so long as she did not leave him.
Webster was an unsuccessful candidate for Bodden Town in the 2013 election. He had been tipped to run in the most recent election but his plans were derailed after his arrest last summer. However, during the time he was allegedly having an indecent relationship with the teenage girl, he had asked her to be patient about the things he would give her and said she would get everything she wanted once he was elected.
During a long day of testimony and cross-examination, the girl spoke clearly and articulately about the relationship between herself and Webster. Although she became emotional for a short time when pressed about the three occasions where he allegedly performed sexual acts on her and she spoke about her shame, the rest of the time she remained calm and answered all of the questions.
She told the jury that Webster gave her money when she sent him pictures of her bare breasts, and although she had considered him a friend, she thought that “he was taking it too far”, especially when he began asking her to “make a deal” for the things he gave her, which she said was the sexual acts.
The crown prosecutor took the girl through the hundreds of messages exchanged between her and Webster. In many of them she asked for things and she admitted wanting the money and the things he gave her.
She said that he had told her to ask him for anything she wanted. But she told the court that sometimes he refused to give her the things she wanted and then she said she would be angry and selfish. She said she would threaten not to be friends with him anymore and taunt him about the things he had given to other girls, pressing him over why he would not give her more and suggesting he did not care for her as much as he claimed.
But on the other hand, she also revealed that she liked his company and they would talk about things that she did not think he did with other girls. The teenager said she would tell him her problems and he would help her. She also said she would protect Webster when allegations were made about him and what he may be doing with other young girls when people gossiped, saying it wasn’t true. But she said she really believed it was true, as she knew other girls had bragged about the things he gave to them too.
The girl said that knowing this, she would then ask for more things, which she described as being selfish. She said she wanted the things just for herself. She also said Webster had spoken with her about other girls who had threatened to expose him and that he told her “nothing good would come of it”.
She told the court she wondered what he meant by that and later noted that she had this in mind when she made the video in case “something bad like this was to happen”. The video was taken when the girl was in the car with Webster while he was masturbating.
The young girl also told the court that when he said things about wanting to give her everything and that he loved her, it did make her feel special, as crown counsel suggested that this was an exploitative relationship.
During cross-examination, the child denied blackmailing Webster or threatening him with the video that was to trigger the investigation and the eventual charges against Webster. She denied doctoring the video, which the jury saw when the crown opened its case, but admitted she had cut some of it out because she had been in it and said she was “disgusted” and “repulsed” watching herself in the video. She also told the court that she never told Webster about the video and she had no plans for it or any time in mind when she might show it to anyone.
She accepted that she had taken as much as $900 in cash from Webster as well as the things he bought her, including the phone, but she kept repeating the comments she claimed he had made to her that she only had to ask if she wanted anything. She told the court that he did not say there was a limit. “He said he would give me anything,” she said.
The court also heard that when the girl first went to the police, she was taken there by family members who had learned about the video. She said that she had not told them at that point about the other three occasions and it was not until a few days later that she told police about the incidents of indecent assault.
The case continues.