Reverend Vincent Anthony Lowe claimed on Monday that he only admitted to “touching” a teenage female church member because he wanted to put an end to the matter.
Lowe, 71, of Mount Standfast, St James, gave that testimony when he took the witness stand in the No. 4 Supreme Court as his indecent assault trial continued.
During cross-examination by Principal State Counsel Olivia Davis, who is prosecuting the case along with State Counsel Paul Prescod and Maya Kellman, Pastor Lowe said his wife informed him the teenager had told her mother he touched her. However, he did not seek further details from his wife as she did not seem rattled.
A meeting was held with the teenager’s mother to discuss the allegations, but Lowe again did not ask for specifics about the alleged touching.
“That was the second time you had an opportunity to ask what she meant by that. I put it to you that (the complainant’s mother) told you that you had touched (the complainant’s) breast and vagina and that you had also gotten that information from your wife,” the prosecutor said.
He responded, “No,” and denied ever touching either body part.
Lowe told the court that he called a second meeting “to resolve things” as the complainant’s family was no longer corresponding with him. He denied that he initiated that discussion to convince them not to contact the police.
The pastor testified that during the second meeting, he admitted to touching the complainant but still did not know the details of the alleged touch.
“So you are saying to this court today that you do not know what you were admitting to?” Davis asked. The accused replied, “Only that I touched her. That was the only knowledge I had….There wasn’t any specific area, and why I admitted to it was [because] her mom said if I say I touched her, this case, this meeting is over, the whole thing is over, and because I wanted to resolve it, I said I touched her.”
The accused also testified that he would have rehearsals at his home in a bedroom he used as a studio and that he was sometimes alone with the complainant. However, he denied that the complainant had come home from school one evening and found him in her house and that he indecently assaulted her as she sat in the front seat of his van.
The pastor, who was initially charged with five counts of indecent assault between January 1, 2011 and March 8, 2013, now faces four charges after the jury was directed to deliver a not-guilty verdict on one count. He was 58 at the time of the alleged offences.
The court will hear closing addresses from the prosecution and Lowe’s defence lawyer, Senior Counsel Angella Mitchell-Gittens, on Wednesday.
Madam Justice Laurie-Ann Smith-Bovell is presiding over the case.
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