Former DUP Alderman given probation and community service for groping and exposing himself to teenage girls

William Ball

Ashleigh McDonald

July 01 2021 04:26 PM

A former DUP Alderman who indecently assaulted and exposed himself to teenage girls he viewed as "accessible" has avoided prison.

William Ball was handed a combination order of 80 hours' community service and three years' probation.

The 67-year-old was also placed on the sex offenders' register for five years.

Ball, who served as Alderman of Antrim and Newtownabbey Borough Council until quitting the role and the DUP in 2018, admitted eight counts of indecent exposure and two counts of indecent assault against three teenage girls on dates between April 1977 and June 1991.

He groped one of his victims and exposed his penis to her on a number of occasions when she was aged between 13 and 16.

He also exposed himself to his second and third victims, as well as touching the second teenager’s bottom.

All the offences were committed in the Newtownabbey area, where Ball lived at the time.

He now resides at an address in east Belfast that was made the subject of a reporting restriction after loyalist paramilitaries forced him to leave his former home.

The grandfather-of-five told a probation officer that while he was attracted to girls aged 14 to 15 when he was in his 20s, he grew attracted to women his own age as he got older.

He added that he was “preoccupied with sex” at the time of the offences and had not realised he was causing any harm.

Judge McColgan thanked the victims for their "honestly in expressing their feelings to the court".

"It is abundantly clear that each of these ladies has been profoundly affected by the actions of Mr Ball," she added.

"If Mr Ball has not read the [victim impact] statements, he ought to do so because he really needs to know the damage that he caused these women."

She stressed that one of the women had asked: “Who gave him the right to do what he did to me?”

The judge told the court that Ball had been "refreshingly honest" about his offending and had expressed genuine shame and regret.

However, she also spoke of how he had taken advantage of his victims, adding: "He was in a position of trust, which created an additional power imbalance between his victims and him.”

Former DUP Alderman given probation and community service for groping and exposing himself to teenage girls

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