Plaid Cymru councillor sexually assaulted woman with ‘electric massager’, trial told

A Plaid Cymru councillor sexually assaulted a woman during a general election campaign and another with an “electric massager” at his home, a court has heard.

William Jones, 67, is accused of rubbing his hands across the body of one woman before assaulting a second after he was elected as a councillor.

On Monday a court heard Jones assaulted one woman at his home in January, having met her while he was canvassing for votes before his election to Rhondda Cynon Taff Council last May.

Prosecutor Roger Griffiths said Jones invited the woman into his kitchen to use an electric massage device on her back, only to also use it on her breasts and between her legs.

Mr Griffiths said: “The woman froze and was unable to say anything because of the shock.

“She told Jones, ‘I’m a married woman’. Jones replied, ‘Your husband doesn’t have to know’.”

Mr Griffiths said the woman fled after Jones’s elderly mother, who was elsewhere in the property, shouted to her son about needing the bathroom.

Merthyr Tydfil Crown Court (pictured) heard the woman’s complaint to police led to another woman coming forward to allege Jones sexually assaulted her in the run-up to the 2015 general election while he was a party activist.

Jones allegedly picked the woman up at a shop in Treorchy in February 2015 and carried her to a back room over his shoulders, before closing and leaning against its door.

Mr Griffiths said: “The woman became concerned at that point. Jones put her down and she describes his hands ‘going everywhere’.

“He put his hands between her legs, then on top of her breasts.

“He then forced his tongue down her throat to kiss her.”

The woman, who cannot be named, told the court she repeatedly yelled ‘no’ but Jones ignored her and continued to touch her body.

She said: “I kept saying ‘no, no’. He was saying ‘come on, come on’.

“I just wanted him to let me out and open the door. But he wasn’t stopping. I didn’t give him any words of encouragement.”

During a police interview Jones said the incident was a “misunderstanding” and he thought the woman had been “encouraging” him.

He said the January 2018 incident at his home happened after the woman asked how his electric massage device worked, but he denied anything sexual took place.

Jones, from Eileen Place, Treherbert, denies two counts of sexual assault.

The trial continues.

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