Witness implies Webster was trying to buy votes

(CNS): The mother of a teenage girl who has accused Errington Webster of indecently assaulting her told the court Thursday that he was a well known and respected man in their community who was helping everyone in the hope that they would vote for him. Taking the witness stand to explain what she knew about Webster’s relationship with her daughter, she revealed that Webster had given her $400 to deal with her own back-tax problems on her car and he had asked for her vote in return for the money.

Webster ran for office in 2013 as an independent candidate but was unsuccessful. The court heard that he had planned to run again in 2017 for the district of Bodden Town East and appeared to be campaigning hard, and generously, even before officially declaring that he would be seeking office again.

The girl’s mother said he was kind and very helpful and paid particular attention to helping “single mothers” like her, and she said he was asking people to vote for him in exchange for the help he gave. The mother explained that he was assisting her to find a school for her youngest son, who had learning difficulties. She also said that Webster and his wife would sometimes give her leftover food and help out, as he did with other single mothers.

She told the jury he would sometimes buy ice cream for all the kids around their neighborhood and described lavish family fun days, with games and presents, all financed entirely by Webster and his family. However, in later evidence it was revealed that Webster, who is a retired firefighter, did not own any businesses and did not appear to have another job.

During cross-examination, defence attorney Steve McField suggested that Webster was no different from other politicians, helping his potential constituents, treating them and giving money and helping those who needed it in exchange for votes. The mother agreed that he was well known in their community for helping everyone and that until she saw the video her daughter had taken and the whole thing was exposed, she would have voted for him as well.

She spoke of her shock at what happened and said that no one had ever expected this of Webster.

“He is a respectable man, and we didn’t expect this,” she told the jury, as she fought back the tears.

The girl’s mother appeared shocked to hear that Webster had given her daughter as much as $900 in cash, though Webster had told police he probably gave the teenager just $300. She revealed that she had begun to get concerned about Webster spending time alone with her daughter and had questioned her about what they spoke about.

She said she raised the question about whether he was talking to her about things of a sexual nature, but her daughter told her they spoke about generalities and mostly her school work.

Unaware of the real extent of contact between her daughter and Webster, she said that when she saw the clothes he had bought her, she was concerned about that as well because if she had known that Webster was taking her to town alone to buy her these gifts, she would not have permitted it.

The situation came to a head, however, when she learned of the existence of the video and that her daughter had been alone in a car with Webster. This is the video taken by the teenager when Webster was masturbating in his car with the teenage girl. Shocked by what she saw, she went straight to the police station with her daughter to report the incident to the police.

The case continues.