A FORMER boarding school housemaster sexually abused three pupils but the headmaster at the time ‘ignored’ concerns, a court heard.

Paul Stevens, a former head of mathematics and football coach at Abberley Hall School near Worcester denies 29 counts relating to the alleged abuse of three boys at the school between the early 1980s and early 1990s.

The prosecution yesterday opened the case at Worcester Crown Court against the 60-year-old.

He denies 20 indecent assaults and nine counts of indecency with a child. One of the alleged victims has since died. Charges include multiple allegations of oral sex, masturbation, sexual touching, kissing, biting and one allegation concerning a sex act with a shampoo bottle. The alleged abuse was carried out between January 1, 1983 and March 22, 1991. The jury was played a video interview with the first victim, now an adult, yesterday afternoon. He said he was under 14 when the abuse began and that it happened at school and outside.

Fiona Elder, prosecuting, said: “The prosecution case is that Mr Stevens abused the position of trust afforded to him by the parents, by the school and by the boys that were in his care when he sexually abused some of them.”

The court heard how Stevens had a study on the groundfloor in the main school building and also a bedroom close to the boy’s dormitory in ‘the tower’.

For the majority of the time Stevens was at the school the headmaster was Michael Haggard. “For whatever reason he ignored any concerns about the behaviour of Mr Stevens” Miss Elder told the jury.

Two friends of the first complainant raised concerns about Stevens stroking him under the duvet when it came to ‘lights out’, telling a parent who spoke to Mr Haggard about it.

However,‘nothing was done or said as a result of this’ said the prosecution. Under a new head teacher Stevens was issued with a formal warning about what was described as his ‘over familiarity with the boys’ in September 1998. In January 1999 he received a second formal written warning because Stevens was still showing ‘undue favouritism to certain boys’. At the end of 1999 Stevens left the school.

The court heard that his favouritism to certain boys caused jealousy as he gave his ‘favourites’ cake and biscuits and allowed them to watch television, described by Miss Elder as ‘grooming behaviour.’

She described how he gave one boy (not one of the complainants) a pair of football boots. The boy arrived at the teacher’s room to find him ‘wearing nothing but a pair of red Y-fronts’. The trial continues.