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Priest breaks down tears after being cleared of sex abuse

The High Court in Aberdeen
The High Court in Aberdeen

A priest accused of sexually abusing two schoolchildren more than 50 years ago broke down in tears this morning as a jury acquitted him of all the charges.

Father John Angus MacDonald, who worked and studied at Blair’s College in Aberdeen, had been on trial last week at the High Court in the city facing two charges.

It was alleged the 69-year-old raped a young girl on one occasion in the 1950s or 1960s. He was also accused of using lewd, indecent or libidinous practices towards a schoolboy on a number of occasions within the same time period.

However yesterday a jury of nine women and six men took little over 30 minutes to find the retired priest not guilty of the two remaining charges he faced.

Father MacDonald, who was a teenager at the time of the alleged offences, originally faced another charge that he raped the girl on multiple occasions while acting alongside another youth. However, he was acquitted of this charge on Wednesday after advocate depute David Taylor accepted there was not sufficient evidence to prove it.

All the alleged offences were said to have taken place in the Western Isles.

Throughout the week-long trial, jurors have heard evidence from the two accusers who claimed to have been abused by Father MacDonald as children.

The woman, who is now 65 and cannot be named for legal reasons, told the court the abuse had been “opportunistic” and was carried out over a five-year period starting when she was just four.

She claimed she recalled “acting like a well-trained dog”, removing her own underwear and lying motionless while she was raped. And she said it was not until more than 30 years later, in 1988, while sitting meditating, that the memories came “flooding back to her” as if she was watching a film script unfold.

Two psychologists acting on behalf of both the defence and the Crown struggled to accept this scenario.

The court heard the woman continued to maintain contact with Father MacDonald, whose address is given in court papers as Ard Tullaich, Ardeonaig, Killin, after she claimed to have remembered the abuse.

The court heard he carried out her wedding ceremony and baptised two of her children and that she would often stay at his homes as he moved around the country as a result of his job. She also borrowed money from the accused in the late 90s, the court was told.

Father MacDonald refused to comment when leaving court today.