US anti-abortion activist accused of molesting NI girl

An associate of two men who murdered abortion doctors in the 1990s has gone on trial accused of molesting a teenager from Northern Ireland at a home he ran for troubled girls and women.

John Burt, aged 66, is accused of improperly touching and propositioning the girl last year, when she was aged 15, at Our Father’s House in the Florida Panhandle.

A jury was chosen in Milton, Florida, yesterday and the case is expected to begin today.

He has denied the accusations.

Burt was charged with four counts of lewd and lascivious molestation and one count of lewd and lascivious conduct. Penalties for each count range from probation to 15 years in prison.

The alleged victim, now 16, was to testify through a satellite video link from Northern Ireland after lawyers make their opening statements at Escambia County’s court building in nearby Pensacola.

The trial will be moved there for one day because the Santa Rosa County Courthouse in Milton lacks equipment for the video hookup.

The girl’s father, who lives in South Florida, refused to let her return from Northern Ireland to testify in person.

Circuit Judge Ron Swanson has denied a defence request for the girl’s psychological records. He has set aside four days for the trial.

Burt was convicted of resisting arrest in 1986 when he pushed his way into an abortion clinic and broke equipment. He was sentenced to 141 days of time served.

In 1993, Burt was leading a protest at a Pensacola abortion clinic when Michael Griffin, a volunteer at Our Father’s House, shot dead Dr David Gunn.

Burt was with Paul Hill in 1994 when Hill photographed an abortion doctor he later shot and killed. Hill was sentenced to death for murdering Dr John Bayard Britton and his bodyguard.