Exclusive: ‘Victim’ breaks silence to reveal alleged sexual harassment at hands of Christ Church dean

A woman who has claimed to have been sexually harassed by the former dean of Christ Church, Oxford, has spoken about her experience for the first time, saying “it is insulting he is trying to claim being the victim”.

Previously known only as “Miss X”, Alannah Jeune has waived her right to anonymity to reveal how reporting the Very Rev Prof Martyn Percy for allegedly stroking her hair in the sacristy in Oct 2020 cost her her thesis.

“This has had a massive impact on my life,” the 29-year-old told The Telegraph in an exclusive interview. “I’ve lost my job, my housing and my PhD over this.

“The whole thing was weird and creepy. He assaulted me while wearing a collar in a cathedral.”

Until now, she claimed only one side of a four-year saga, which saw the 59-year-old Anglican priest leave the prestigious college last month with a seven-figure settlement, had been told.

Last weekend, the married theologian gave an interview with The Times in which he suggested that Miss Jeune’s claim “was all taken out of her hands, heavily weaponised, and then talked up as a full-blown sexual assault”.

He repeatedly denied having touched her and insisted he was the victim of a witch hunt and failure in safeguarding.

“It’s just so unbelievably insulting to say that a 29-year-old educated woman is not capable of making a complaint herself,” says Miss Jeune. 

“This was a case of a man using his power, connections and position to trample down the woman who’s telling the truth.”

Last Wednesday, Prof Percy announced that he was leaving the Church of England and his supporters are expected to join him on Saturday for a “farewell” service and party at an undisclosed location.

Yet for the softly spoken chapel assistant and verger from New Zealand, the nightmare, she said, is far from over.

“I thought once we’d settled, this would all be over. But now he’s in the paper calling me a liar,” she says, tearfully. “It feels like he’s never going to stop.”

‘The opportunity of a lifetime’

Methodist, teetotal Miss Jeune – who looks considerably younger than her 29 years – was brought up in a modest home by her stay-at-home father and her mother, a part-time music teacher.

In 2017, she was offered “the opportunity of a lifetime” – a scholarship to Christ Church, Oxford – after studying history and music at the University of Canterbury in Christchurch, New Zealand, and a master’s degree at Queen’s University Belfast.

Upon arriving in Oxford, Miss Jeune claimed that the Dean, who was not only in charge of the 12th-century cathedral but also head of the governing body of the constituent Oxford college, swiftly took her under his wing, inviting her for coffee, “once or twice a term”.

On their second meeting, the Dean allegedly opened up to her about how he had been adopted as a child and his struggle to find his birth parents.

“At the time, I was flattered that he was trusting me with such details,” she recalled. “I had very little experience of academia in this kind of environment. So I thought he was a slightly bumbling, socially awkward, very clever academic.”

Although Miss Jeune did not spend as much time with Emma Percy, who is the chaplain of Trinity College, the couple grew to trust her enough to allow her to housesit when they were away from the Deanery, which up until April was their 12-bedroom grace and favour home, next door to the cathedral.

Short-lived support for ‘Team Dean’

So when a formal complaint was submitted against Prof Percy in Sep 2018, accusing him of “conduct of an immoral, scandalous or disgraceful nature incompatible with the duties of the office or employment”, Miss Jeune was among many who threw their support behind the dean.

“I was in Team Dean,” she said. “The student body felt Martyn was being targeted by atheist dons. We organised flowers, we sent cards. I really thought the college was treating him badly. It’s sickening to look back at, really.”

Suspended pending a tribunal, it was not until Aug 2019 that the charges were dismissed. 

Although Prof Percy’s supporters have subsequently insisted he was completely exonerated, the investigation did find one breach of his fiduciary duty, as well as making some criticism of his conduct.

The toxic atmosphere at the college continued, and four months later, a motion of no confidence was put to the governing body, which voted 38 against the Dean with two in favour. 

Emails then appeared in the press quoting several dons wondering how they might poison Prof Percy, hoping he would turn up drowned in a nearby river, and calling him a “little Hitler”.

The leak – along with a copy of the previously secret 2019 tribunal findings – was allegedly traced back to Prof Percy via Jonathan Aitken, the disgraced former Cabinet minister-turned-vicar, and a former student of Christ Church. Both men denied any involvement.

Meanwhile, Prof Percy was investigated by the college over two separate safeguarding issues, and in Sep 2020, the Church of England released a statement clearing him of any wrongdoing, declaring: “At no point was there any allegation or evidence that the Dean presented a direct risk to any child or vulnerable adult”.

‘He stroked my hair for 10 seconds... I just froze’

It was a month later, on Oct 4 2020, that Miss Jeune claimed that the dean sexually harassed her after following her up the narrow stairs to the sacristry after a Sunday Eucharist service.

Dressed in a cassock throughout the Covid-compliant service, directing worshippers to their seats, she had been wearing her long blonde hair down that day because she was having it cut that afternoon and donating it to charity.

“I heard steps so I turned around. I was surprised to see him there as we were having to follow all the social distancing rules and clergy were not allowed in the sacristy as it is quite small,” she claimed.

“He started off by saying ‘Have you done something different to your hair today? It’s looking glorious’. I just said that I had brushed it and tried to laugh it off.

“Then he said that he had been watching me throughout the service and could not take his eyes off me. He said the sunlight had been catching on my hair and that he wanted to reach out and stroke it.

“He was very close to me at this point. I remember thinking ‘I hope I don’t give him Covid as it was the start of fresher’s week and I’d been working with students all weekend’.

“Then he said ‘Oh I’m just going to have to’, and reached out his hand and stroked my hair for about 10 seconds. I just froze and tried to defuse the situation by not reacting.”

Miss Jeune alleged that when Prof Percy turned to leave, he got to the top of the stairs and asked: “So how old are you now then?”

When Miss Jeune replied “28”, she claims he said: “Only 30 years between us, then.”

“I was like, ‘there’s no other implication to take from that’,” she said.

‘Go back to New Zealand or we withdraw you’

Prof Percy has denied ever saying this. He has admitted to complimenting Miss Jeune on her hair, but denied ever touching it, claiming he was putting in eye drops at the time.

Thirty minutes after the incident, Miss Jenue told the Rev Clare Hayns, the college chaplain, what had allegedly happened and reported it to the university authorities, prompting the dean to step down pending another investigation.

The college commissioned Kate Wood, a former police officer to carry out the investigation. She interviewed both parties and, in her final report, described Miss Jeune’s account as “credible, detailed and true”, prompting Christ Church to proceed to tribunal.

Miss Jeune went on to report the incident to the police when she discovered that Prof Percy had denied it to investigators. After interviewing Prof Percy the police decided 'no further action' would be taken.  

Yet it did not bring closure. By now, “Miss X” had become a subject of discussion among his supporters, who variously described her in anonymous source quotes to the press and in blogs as “a side issue” and “irrelevant” and “an illegal immigrant”. 

Her visa runs out this September, when she plans to return to New Zealand.

Prof Percy’s claim that he was suffering from mental health issues delayed the tribunal process to such an extent that Miss Jeune had to give up on her PhD. 

“I kept on having to ask for more time so I was given an ultimatum,” she said. 

“My university said, you either come back to New Zealand and finish it or we withdraw you. I couldn’t easily fly back because of Covid, and I was committed to seeing this through, so I lost my lifelong ambition to become a professor.”

Unearthing her side of the story

After a 10-day mediation, the pair finally reached a settlement in February, which saw both awarded compensation and Prof Percy step down from the role. However, his recent interview has prompted Miss Jeune to finally speak out.

“Does he honestly think that I would have allowed anyone to rewrite my experience and talk it up?

“It was completely shattering to see so many people support him without knowing all of the facts. I haven’t yet been able to forgive the group of supporters who admitted they got together to ‘plot’.

“But the other people, like those who supported his GoFundMe page without hearing the other side of the story, I feel sorry for them because they’ve been manipulated.”