Former DUP member, now a UUCP Councillor in the borough, William Wilkinson appeared at a special sitting of Ballymena Magistrate's Court on Saturday.

Wilkinson (31) of Tully Road, Portglenone, who works for victims' group Families Acting for Innocent Relatives (FAIR), is accused of committing the offences in the County Antrim area last Thursday.
Wilkinson confirmed in court that the understood the nature of the charges.

A PSNI officer said she believed she could connect him to the charges and asked for him to be remanded in custody.

The officer said police received a 999 call from a female during which the words "Get off me, get off me" could be heard and when they went to a house a woman said the accused had raped her.
The police officer said the woman was in a "very distressed state".
In response to questions from a defence solicitor, the police officer confirmed Mr Wilkinson was interviewed six times after being arrested in the early hours of Thursday.He denied the offences to police.

The defence solicitor told the court that in the light of "two different sides to the story" it would take time to resolve the issues, adding: "this entire episode has been extremely stressful".

Remanding the councillor in custody, District Judge Robert Alcorn said fears from the prosecution that the accused might attempt to get to the injured party to withdraw her statement were valid.

Wilkinson was remanded in custody to appear at Coleraine Magistrate's Court, via videolink, on September 15.

Wilkinson joined Ballymena Borough Councillor in 2006 after winning a by-election. He left the DUP to join the Ulster Unionist Coalition Party (UUCP) after Ian Paisley's decision to share power with Sinn Fein.
He was tipped as a 'rising star' in anti-power-sharing unionism and was present when FAIR's Willie Frazer was arrested after gate-crashing talks between the governments and local parties at Leeds Castle.
Speaking to reporters at the weekend, Mr Frazer said he was shocked at the charges.

He said: "He has been working with me for about six years and this arrest has hit me like a sledgehammer.

"He is obviously innocent until proven guilty and we will be taking an interest in the case".