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Man stayed silent for fear no-one would believe him
A MAN who claims he was sexually abused by his schoolteacher told a court he remained silent for fear no-one would believe him.
In video evidence shown at Portsmouth Crown Court the man, now in his 30s, told how English and drama teacher James Braid befriended him when he was a pupil at Bay House School in Gosport.
The man, who cannot be named for legal reasons, said when Braid allegedly first kissed him on the sofa at his home he considered telling someone, but feared no-one would believe him.
He said: 'I felt that I had got myself into a situation that I didn't really want to be in, but I didn't really know how to get out of it.'
He added: 'I thought "well perhaps you had ought to tell someone" but I also thought that this was somehow my fault and if I did tell someone, who would I tell?
'If I told a teacher at school there was a possibility they wouldn't believe me, that even if they did believe me if they knew the build-up to it they would say "well you stopped round there, it's inevitable that things like this happen to people like you".'
The jury at Portsmouth Crown Court heard how the alleged abuse started after he was invited on a trip to Braid's parents' rest home to work during the school holidays.
He also claimed Braid began sexually assaulting him at his home, where he regularly visited him after school and sometimes stayed overnight – but that he felt there was no way of stopping it.
He added: 'I just felt that I was in a lot of trouble that I couldn't get out of. I think I thought "there's no way of getting out of this trouble, and what you have now got to try and do is accept it, accept it's happening, and somehow incorporate it into your experience of life".'
Braid, who was also a head of year and retired last year, is accused of abusing four boys – all aged under 16 – who were pupils at Bay House School between 1982 and 2002.
The 58-year-old denies seven charges of indecent assault, one of rape and one other sexual offence.
(Proceeding)
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Friday 10 February 2012
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