Frank Skipwith 'abused 10 pupils as young as eight'

It is alleged former private school head Frank Skipwith watched the sons of diplomats and army officers in the showers as he drank.

A jury heard he indecently assaulted ten vulnerable boys as young as eight left in his care by their high-flying parents.

One former pupil at Fernden school, which is near the village of Fernhurst, north of Chichester, told how he would sip wine and sherry as he supervised showers.

Another described how he was abused in his bed after being beaten with a slipper on his bare buttocks in the headmaster’s office.

The former teacher, now 79, faced a jury accused of 23 counts of indecent assault on young pupils at the now closed school.

He gave the outward appearance of the perfect country school master, the court heard.

Toby Fitzgerald for the Crown said: “It follows from his position as headmaster, he was responsible for the welfare of the children at the school.

“A devoted family man, to all appearances, he could sound both kindly and charming.

“Perhaps the model of a country school master to all appearances,” he told the jury.

“It is the Crown’s case he used his position to cater to his sexual desires towards pre-pubescent boys.”

Mr Skipwith was the headmaster at Fernden, described as a small, fee paying, independent preparatory school for boys from 1979.

“It was founded in 1907 and closed in 1985 for financial reasons,” Mr Fitzgerald told the jury at Hove Trial Centre.

Then aged 39, the court heard Mr Skipwith lived in a flat next to the dormitories with his wife and three sons who were among the 100 pupils at the school.

Mr Fitzgerald said the former master described his night time visits to the dormitories as pastoral care.

“In fact, they were blatant attempts to satisfy his sexual desires.”

Pupils told police how he would watch intently as they showered at the school.

Mr Fitzgerald said: “He would have a glass of sherry or wine while supervising the showers.

“He would use alcohol to enhance his enjoyment of looking at the boys in the shower.”

One former pupil now in his 40s told police how Mr Skipwith beat him with a training shoe then visited him later in his dorm.

“I was crying from the pain.

“I don’t remember what he said to me.

“He was trying to apologise, make things better, sort of comfort you because you’d had your punishment for what you’d done.

“At the time, you don’t know what he’s doing.

“You don’t know that it’s wrong and to some extent it’s strange because you sort of felt that he was giving you attention and you knew that at times you would see prior to when it first happened to me he would spend time with other boys by their beds and without knowing what was happening or understanding, you sort of wanted that attention as well.

“You are very young, away from home and it’s wrong to think that way but he was obviously abusing his position and using that trust in what you thought was comforting and a caring person.

“But someone that was abusing you at the time.”

Several boys reported Mr Skipwith asking if they were enjoying what he was doing to them, Mr Fitzgerald said.

“It’s almost like him seeking reassurance,” the victim said.

Frank Skipwith from Eynsham in Oxfordshire denies indecent assaults on ten boys aged between eight and 10 from 1981 to 1983.

The trial continues.