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	Woman Says Pastor Sexually Assaulted Her Many Times By Bryan Tait Daily Gleaner January 19, 2010 http://dailygleaner.canadaeast.com/cityregion/article/925251 WOODSTOCK -- A jury of six men and six women began hearing testimony Monday in the second trial of a former Upper St. John River Valley pastor. Frederick Douglas Hanson, 61, is charged with one count of sexual assault at or near Upper Brighton and Somerville between Jan. 1, 1988, and Dec. 31, 1990, and one count of indecent assault at or near Somerville between Jan. 1, 1971, and Dec. 31, 1974. This is the second trial for the former pastor. The first is dealing with charges of sexually touching young people and sexually touching young people while in a position of authority between May 2006 and December 2007 in Plaster Rock. That trial was adjourned last week and will resume in May. Crown prosecutor Christopher Lavigne outlined the case against Hanson to the jurors, including testimony he expects from the two complainants that would describe a number of alleged incidents. Day 1 of Hanson's second trial featured testimony from the complainant in the first charge. The complainant, whose identity is protected by a publication ban, was 16 years old in 1988 and a member of the Upper Brighton Free Will Baptist Church, where Hanson was a pastor. She testified she came from a dysfunctional family - an alcoholic father and emotionally unstable mother. She also said she'd been sexually abused by a number of men who were friends with her father. "But we always had our Christian faith," she said. The complainant said she'd had a positive relationship with Hanson prior to the alleged incidents. "I trusted him. I felt that I could go to him if I had problems or needed someone to talk to," she said. The complainant described her family life and the alleged abuse she was suffering. "I wanted out," she said, adding she went to Hanson in early 1988 in an attempt to help her situation. She said when she spoke to Hanson, he took her into a room in the sanctuary at the Upper Brighton church. "I was just sick of my situation," she said. "I didn't think anything of him taking me into the room. "He told me that he already knew what was going on with me and the other men, and he said what I did with them I could also do it with him." The complainant said Hanson lifted her T-shirt and bra, and touch her breasts. She said on some occasions, Hanson would force her to perform oral sex on him. She also said Hanson told her no one would believe her if she said anything because he was a pastor. The complainant said similar incidents occurred over the next two years, some at the church, some at her home and some at Hanson's home. The final incidents occurred in the summer of 1990 at the St. John River Bible Camp in Somerville. Hanson's lawyer, Robert Digdon, will cross-examine the complainant this morning. Another eight Crown witnesses are expected to be called. The trial is scheduled to wrap up on Friday.
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