A young woman who suffered abuse at the hands of Cameron Downing, a former equalities officer of the Scottish National Party (SNP) who frequently showcased his close association with Nicola Sturgeon, alerted the political party to his dangerous conduct. For the victim’s safety, her identity is withheld.
Downing stripped her naked, subjected her to a harshly hot shower, and dumped a bin full of sanitary towels on her. His predatory behaviours later escalated to sexual assault in a nightclub, the same predator she knew from her school years.
When the 24-year-old brought attention to Downing’s pending multiple sexual assault and abuse cases in court to the SNP, they exhibited interest only if the crimes occurred during party events.
The victim was appalled by the SNP’s blatant disregard of its officer’s illicit activities. Noteworthy is that Downing was bestowed with the role of an equalities officer in the SNP London branch and also held two other positions in the party’s official LGBT wing, Out for Independence, even after his arrest and being charged with assaults in 2021.
From a young age, Downing consistently overstepped boundaries, which later escalated to grave abuse. He exploited her mental health vulnerabilities to justify his actions, alleging that since he was gay, his actions didn’t matter.
Downing boasted about his camaraderie with Sturgeon and often displayed his photographs with her. The victim met the First Minister of Scotland during a vigil in Edinburgh for victims of the Pulse nightclub mass shooting in Florida in 2016.
When the victim read the news about Downing’s online threats to assault women in October 2022, she was appalled to discover his position of trust within the party. She had already reported his abuse to the police and later learned of his string of offenses against both men and women over five years. This compelled her to email the SNP’s head office and Holyrood equalities committee convener, MSP Karen Adam, who she knew was acquainted with Downing.
When she reached out to the SNP, they appeared more intrigued about the events occuring within their party’s domain. She noted a lack of concern for her wellbeing or those who might have suffered at Downing’s hands from the party.
SNP MSP Fergus Ewing expressed his exasperation over the party’s senior management’s conduct and called for their dismissal. He urged the party leaders to disclose their knowledge of Downing’s actions and their failure to react to it.
Downing faced 10 charges of assault, sexual assault and domestic abuse against four women and two men at the Edinburgh High Court, resulting in a six-year imprisonment. His most severe offense was systematically blackmailing, physically and sexually assaulting a man over 18 months, whom he forced into a relationship through threats of false rape accusations.
Glasgow’s Judge Keith Stirling stated during the sentencing of Downing that the defendant has a high likelihood of causing serious harm, exhibiting both violent and controlling behaviour.
An SNP spokeswoman stated that they were not privy to any complaints against Downing by SNP members or Out for Independence and that as soon as they were informed of the legal actions against him in January 2023, they revoked his SNP membership.
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