In the end, it came down to who you believed.
Was it the three young women who claimed they were sexually assaulted as minors – or the family member who argued their stories were fabrications and lies?
A jury of 12 men and women answered the question Thursday when it found Kevin L. Donaldson of Salamanca guilty of five felony charges of transporting a minor across state lines for the purposes of sexual activity and one felony charge of witness tampering.
“To hear the pain in their voices when they testified,” U.S. Attorney William J. Hochul Jr. said of the three victims. “I just think their testimony was so compelling.”
The verdict, reached less than 24 hours after the jury began deliberations, means Donaldson will face a maximum of life in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Richard J. Arcara in November.
Donaldson, 48, already is serving four years in state prison for rape.
The two-week trial included testimony from the three victims, who related story after story of how Donaldson repeatedly raped or assaulted them when they were underage and how they traveled with him on trucking trips across the country from 2004 to 2007.
One of the women testified that during one out-of-town trip, Donaldson raped her each day they were gone.
Even more important than the lurid facts, according to prosecutors, was the credibility of the victims – each with an independent and believable account of what happened to them.
“It wasn’t a case of all of them concocting their stories,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Michael DiGiacomo, one of the prosecutors handling the case. “The testimony that came from the trial is that they never shared their stories.”
Throughout the trial, prosecutors portrayed Donaldson as a sexual predator whose sole motivation in bringing the girls on trips was for the purpose of having sex.
They also painted him as controlling and emotionally abusive and to make their point played a recording of a phone conversation that suggests Donaldson tried to get one of the victims to blame someone else.
“The key is he tried to keep it a secret,” said Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron J. Mango, one of the other prosecutors on the case. “And that was just another example of him trying to control them.”
Donaldson’s attorney countered by suggesting the women’s testimony was inconsistent and unsupported by physical evidence or other testimony in the case.
He also argued that the victims – all three are now older than 18 – had changed their stories over the years.
“At this point, we’ll move on to the sentencing and maintain our appeals rights,” said Robert N. Convissar, Donaldson’s defense lawyer. “I would expect we’ll file an appeal.”
Donaldson will face a minimum of 30 years and a maximum of life when he is sentenced by Arcara on all six felony convictions.

email: pfairbanks@buffnews.com