Former DUP Leader Convicted of Child Sexual Offences, Shaking Northern Ireland Politics

Jeffrey Donaldson, who led Northern Ireland's Democratic Unionist Party until March 2024, was convicted of child sexual offences including rape on June 22, 2026. The 18 charges spanned indecent assault, gross indecency, and rape—allegations from decades before his leadership. The verdict destabilizes the DUP during a precarious moment for Stormont's power-sharing government and reopens questions about institutional accountability for historical abuse across Northern Ireland's political establishment.