Allegations that a former Carmel College teacher began a series of 30 to 40 of sexual assaults soon after arriving at the school were “ludicrous” and “over-the-top”, his barrister said this week.
Trevor Bolton, 78, from Clacton on Sea, Essex, denies 25 counts of indecency and sexual assault involving eight boys under 16 while he taught at the school from 1968 to 1988.
Defending him, Barry Gilbert said that none of the witnesses had complained at the time. “Why didn’t say anybody say anything?” he asked.
Mr Gilbert told the jury at Oxford Crown Court that an “awful lot of time” had elapsed since the offences were said to have occurred.
Allegations of sexual abuse had been made against former Home Secretary Leon Brittan, he recalled, but there was “nothing it in all”.
One witness had said that Mr Bolton had sat him on his lap and fondled him while other boys were watching TV in the teacher’s flat and left sexually explicit notes for him in his desk.
If that were accurate, what Mr Bolton was doing “was extremely dangerous for him. All it took was for one boy to break ranks and the game was up,” he said.
But the witness, who said that the teacher went on to commit 30 to 40 to sexual assaults, had not kept any of the notes to show to his parents, the barrister said.
The 78-year ex-teacher, who taught French and was head of the junior boys boarding house, did not give evidence because of his health.
Since the allegations were made, he has been “in and out of hospital” and taken medication, Mr Gilbert said. “He is not well.”
But Mr Bolton had told police in interviews that the claims were “not true”.
Mr Gilbert noted that a class action was going on against the college – which closed in 1997 - by former pupils seeking compensation
While he did not object to people trying to get “a few quid,” he said, “I do object to them doing this at the expense of Mr Bolton.”
Acknowledging that incidents of abuse had gone on at the school, he said “two of the teachers got done at the same time. Not him, though.”
Mr Bolton was “sitting there”, the barrister said, “knowing he didn’t do it.”
The allegations had emerged after the wife of one of the boys had posted what her husband had told on Facebook.
Mr Gilbert suggested the husband had claimed to have been a victim of abuse in order to make himself “worthy of sympathy”. Men used all sorts of different ways to impress women, he said.
But prosecutor Simon Wilshire said of the witnesses who recalled being abused by the teacher, “a more compelling, honest set of gentlemen you might struggle to have presented to you”.
Mr Wilshire said that “there has not been any real possibility identified that they have made a mistake, that they are in cahoots, that they are lying about Mr Bolton.”
If the jury believed them, they would conclude that Mr Bolton “sought out and abused vulnerable young boys,” he said.
Summing up at Oxford Crown Court, Judge Ian Pringle recalled that it was alleged that Mr Bolton had “comforted” many of the boys who were “homesick” before “it got more physical.”
The judge told the jury that when considering the six counts of indecency with a child, that they must agree that the defendant carried out all the acts he was accused of.
He also reminded the jury that these counts must be found to have taken place with a child under the age of 14, and that if they found all of this to be true, it would constitute “gross indecency”.
Seven of the complainants recalled how Mr Bolton invited them up to his living quarters, the judge reminded the court. One said: “I went from being comforted to being naked in his bed. It was every or almost every night.”
The judge noted that two of the eight ex-pupils who had made claims said Mr Bolton may have attended their barmitzvahs.
“He befriended my parents and become a trusted family friend,” one ex-pupil had told the court.
Judge Pringle also reminded the jury that another complainant who alleged that the defendant had made him stand in the bath naked, had told the court that: “Mr Bolton manipulated me for his own sexual gratification. I was perfect bait as an 11 year-old.”
The judge highlighted the testimony of Philip Skelker, a headmaster at the school during the time the defendant is accused of committing these crimes.
Mr Skelker said he remembered receiving a letter from parents, with a letter from Mr Bolton enclosed.
The headmaster said he discussed the matter with the governors and the school solicitor and decided to terminate Mr Bolton’s employment. He also got in touch with the department of education and suggested the teacher be blacklisted to stop him from teaching elsewhere.
He recalled how the government declined to do so, saying he was “appalled” when he learned Mr Bolton had taken a place at another school.
In his summary, Judge Pringle told jurors: “You must judge this case on the evidence you have heard and review it dispassionately. Do not allow your own emotions to take over.”