Accused man alleges victim was a prostitute

(CNS): Walter Jordan McLaughlin (left) told the court Tuesday that the woman who has accused him of abducting, robbing, as well as sexually and physically assaulting her was a prostitute. Taking the witness box in his own defence, McLaughlin, who has denied all the charges said that the alleged victim was a sex worker whom he had paid for sex on a number of occasions. He said he did not tell the police that following his arrest because of the shame and stigma associated with using prostitutes.

The defendant told the jury that he did not hurt the woman and did not know how she received the injuries she sustained. He said that he didn’t take her phone, bag or jewellery by force and that she had left it all behind in his car. After they fought over money he was angry and frustrated and had thrown her possessions away when he realised she had left them, he said.

Asked if he had agreed a price with the woman before driving to Sparky Drive, where he said he was expecting to have sex, McLaughlin stated that he did not because he had no money, and although he was intending to pay, he would probably have had to go to an ATM. But he said that the issue of cash was not raised until the two of them had begun to kiss and it was then that they had argued.

McLaughlin did not tell police any of this following his arrest because his attorney had advised him to give a ‘no comment’ interview, he told the court. He had handed a prepared statement to the police, which also made no mention of his claims that the woman was a sex worker and he was a client.

The case continues Wednesday, with directions to the jury from the presiding judge, Justice Michael Mettyear, in Grand Court One.