Alleged victim recalls ‘worst time of his life’
THE trial of a local radio DJ accused of sexually assaulting a teenage boy in the 1980s has heard evidence from the alleged victim, who described how reliving the incident has been “the worst time of his life, ever”.
Kevin Johns, of Gorseinon, Swansea, denies two counts of indecent assault on a boy aged under 16 in Swansea in the 1980s.
The 60-year-old is on trial at Caernarfon Crown Court.
The alleged victim of the abuse has lifelong anonymity.
On Monday, when she opened the case for the prosecution, barrister Elen Owen told the court the alleged incident happened in the 1980s when Johns was in his 20s and the alleged victim was in his early teens.
Yesterday, the trial heard evidence from the alleged victim, who explained his recollections of the events 40 years ago, and how difficult it had been reliving it for the trial.
He said: “It has been the worst ever time in my life, ever. I don’t think anyone would have any comprehension of how someone will feel. My health has taken a dramatic turn because of the stress and strain of it, which it should never have at all.”
The alleged victim’s family members also gave evidence, including his tearful sister, who recalled how she had seen a picture of Johns in a newspaper and asked her brother whether he had recognised him.
She said: “He gave me a very sharp reply and I was taken aback. He told me ‘That ******* made me suck his **** .’ It was such a shock.”
The alleged victim’s wife added how he had also confided in her about what happened during a conversation in the mid90s.
She said: “He told me ‘I’ve got something to tell you and I want to tell you because you might change your mind about getting married.’ I honestly thought he was going to tell me he had a marriage or a child by someone else, but he told me he was sexually abused as a teenager. I was stunned, that was the furthest thing away from my mind. He was crying and distraught. I had never seen him like that before.”
Earlier in the day, a short clip from a video interview with the alleged victim was shown to the court. The alleged victim was asked about his knowledge of Johns’s local celebrity status.
He replied: “Only what I’ve been told very recently. My wife looked him up on the internet – for want of a better word he is a Swansea celebrity.
“I’ve seen the pictures of him online and I know what he looks like.”
Defence barrister Matthew Roberts questioned the alleged victim in court.
Mr Roberts asked whether it was possible for the alleged victim to have confused Johns with someone else.
“I can’t give you 100% what he looked like. I know it was him. I know it was that person,” the witness said.
“My recollection from 40 years ago is as clear as it can be.
“Certain things are very very vivid. He just looked like a typical 20 year old bloke at the time. Sometimes they would have shaved, not shaved, would have been wearing a T-shirt or shirt with jeans.
“He was quite a big chap.”
The alleged victim was asked about a picture he saw of Johns, and how he recognised him.
He said: “It was as if you were looking up a film star and someone asked you, ‘Is it this film star in that film?’ And you’d say yeah, that’s the person. It was exactly the same.
“It was a picture of him on the website. I didn’t look it up myself. I wasn’t interested. It was some sort of picture of him doing a hand movement with a book.”
Barrister Mr Roberts asked: “You’ve not seen Mr Johns since he was 20 have you?”
The alleged responded: “No.”
Mr Roberts asked the alleged victim how he had recognised Kevin Johns given the time which had passed.
He said: “There’s certain characteristics of a person even as they age that you say, I remember that person.”
The alleged victim said after the act took place it was “very awkward” and there had been “small talk” during which Johns said: “If anything was said to anyone he would get in trouble.”
Mr Roberts said: “This is a story that you picked up from your sister and ran with isn’t it?”
The alleged victim said: “No.” Mr Roberts said: “You’ve got the wrong person, haven’t you?” The alleged victim replied: “No.”
The trial is expected to last a week and continues tomorrow. victim