‘I was in a zombified trance’, alleged victim of Keighley church minister’s sexual assaults tells jury – Bradford Telegraph and Argus

A TEENAGER was in a "zombified" trance when a church minister sexually molested her to drive out demons and lustful spirits, Bradford Crown Court heard.

Now in her 40s, the witness told the jury that Pastor John Wilson abused her over a ten year period when he ran a Pentecostal group in Keighley and Shipley.

The woman said she was suicidal when she was a teenager and Wilson held all day private prayer sessions with her.

She looked on him as a father figure and someone to confide in within the church.

She alleged that Wilson, 70, of Shann Avenue, Keighley, put his hand up her skirt to indecently assault her, and touched her breasts, after putting her in a trance during the prayer sessions.

She told the jury on a video link that she was aged about 15 when the one-to-one prayer sessions with Wilson started.

The woman told the court: "He changed from being nice to being a nasty person; demons, demons, spirits, spirits, all the time, drilling it into you, making you believe he was the only one who could take the pain and suffering away from you."

Wilson denies sexually abusing seven women to rid them of evil spirits. He pleads not guilty to 31 allegations, including two of rape, 24 of indecent assault, four of conspiracy to commit indecent assault and one charge of sexual assault.

He denies 11 charges of indecent assault and one of conspiracy to commit indecent assault against the woman, who was giving evidence yesterday.

Wilson's wife, Mary Wilson, 79, of the same address, pleads not guilty to two charges of indecent assault and a single allegation of conspiracy to commit indecent assault.

Laurence Peterson, 59, of Eric Street, Keighley, denies three charges of indecent assault and four allegations of conspiracy to commit indecent assault.

The woman told the jury that Peterson was present during the prayer sessions but she did not recall him ever touching her.

She said she began attending the Pentecostal church as a young girl. She said she had been abused by a man at a fairground and Wilson offered spiritual comfort.

The woman said Peterson made tea before the prayer sessions and she became "zoned out". She was in a trance and "zombified" when Wilson was abusing her.

"It is so devastating that a person who was in a position of authority would do that," she said.

"He made me an emotional wreck."

She said the abuse continued after she married. She said she woke naked on one occasion with carpet burns on her back.

"It was like I was stuck to the floor in a trance, in a daze. I knew I was naked. I knew he had touched me," she told the jury.

"It just cuts me up inside how he could just do that and get away with it."

The trial continues.

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'I was in a zombified trance', alleged victim of Keighley church minister's sexual assaults tells jury - Bradford Telegraph and Argus