A court has heard of how a former Newcastle teacher allegedly took a Hunter student into the bush on the promise of a shooting trip, only to abuse the boy, in the 1970s.
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The judge-alone trial of former St Pius X teacher Edward Smith Hall, also known as Ted Hall, is underway in Newcastle District Court.
Hall faces two counts of indecent assault.
The complainant gave evidence in court on Monday that Hall arranged to pick him up and take him on a shooting trip on one occasion during the 1970s.
After they had traveled about an hour from Newcastle into a bushland area, they stopped at a premises where one of Hall's friends lived - they stayed there that night.
The next day, Hall and the boy went further into the bush until they reached a clearing with a creek. It was a hot day, the court heard, so the boy took off his t-shirt.
Hall then allegedly asked the teenager if he knew the pressure points of the body and encouraged the boy to lie on the ground so he could demonstrate - which the boy did.
The court heard that the teacher then squeezed various parts of the boy's body - including the inside of the elbow, behind the ear and around the ankle before he allegedly touched the teenager's genitals.
As the boy tried to roll away, Hall allegedly grabbed the teenager's nipples and twisted until the boy pushed him off.
The court heard that Hall then tried to convince the boy to swim naked with him in the creek - the teenager refused and went into the water wearing bathers.
Defence barrister Terry Healey suggested Hall did not touch the boy in a sexual manner, as the complainant had described in court.
"He certainly did, certainly," the man replied.
"I can't say enough that Mr Hall did exactly what I say he did in my statement," the man said after being pushed further.
The trial before Judge Ian Bourke continues on Tuesday.
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Nick Bielby
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
Nick Bielby is a crime reporter who has worked as a journalist since 2011. Having joined the Newcastle Herald in 2017, he won a Walkley Award in 2019 with Donna Page for their investigation 'Dirty Deeds', which exposed the decades of illegal dumping of toxic material in and around a Hunter waterway.
