The Telegram (St. John's)

Birthday abuse plaintiff changes story: Defence

- SAM PAZZANO

LONDON, Ont. — A teenaged victim of a BDSM orgy at her birthday party admitted in court Wednesday that she has lied about details of the horrific sexual abuse and that her memory is blurry.

The now 30-year-old testified Tuesday that her 13th birthday party celebratio­ns in Oct. 2001 climaxed in an orgy orchestrat­ed by her twisted mom and stepdad.

She identified the BDSM enthusiast who joined her family orgy as “Scotdom” — which stands for Scottish dominant — as Martin Galloway.

Her identity is covered by a publicatio­n ban.

Galloway, a 48-year-old former Scottish police officer and commercial photograph­er in London, Ont., has pleaded not guilty to the sexual assault charge.

Under skilful cross-examinatio­n by Galloway’s lawyer Daniel Brown, the alleged victim conceded her memories are obscured by the extremelyt­raumatic ordeal, the passage of time and the years of abuse.

The witness also admitted she lied in her original 2008 police statement — deleting her mother’s involvemen­t — to shield her from prosecutio­n.

The witness later revised her version and implicated her mother, who pleaded guilty to sexually abusing her children and is now serving a five-year prison sentence.

The stepfather, who has already served a lengthy prison sentence for sexually abusing the witness, groomed her for sex and she saw him violate both her younger siblings.

Brown said the witness’ memory was compromise­d by a host of factors.

“One of the reasons it’s a blur is the long passage of time,” suggested Brown to the witness. She agreed.

“The other reason is these events were very traumatic and you’ve seen it impact your memory,” asked Brown.

She concurred.

The prosecutio­n is asserting that Galloway was one of a trio of BDSM colleagues — including former Degrassi High actor Jason Dickens — who exploited the girl between Jan. 1, 2000 and Dec. 31, 2006.

Last October, Dickens, 48, pleaded guilty to child pornograph­y offences in connection with the case, including two counts of making child porn.

Brown suggested that Galloway was the boyfriend of the alleged victim’s mother whom the witness knew as “Martin.”

Galloway frequented the woman’s home for BDSM romps with mom while the stepfather was away driving long-distance truck hauls for weeks at a time in 2000, court heard. Brown suggested the witness mixed up her 13th birthday with her 15th birthday when Dickens was the culprit. The lawyer suggested Galloway never molested her.

The witness denied it. The trial resumed Thursday.

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